Tutor
by FloatingLeaf
Summary: Evidently, the Swedish student had failed his molecular biology exam. Everything was dandy, until Tino was forced to become the Swede's tutor for the class. Professors, apparently, did not possess the ability to resist the temptation of meddling in as many of their students' lives as possible.
1. Chapter 1

**Tutor**

Note: That bug that put spaces into everything is really annoying... I went back and tried to find all the random spaces, but if I missed one, please tell me!

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 1

* * *

Tino Väinämöinen hastily threw a few of his textbooks into his bag lying at the floor of his bed as he searched for his coat. His dormitory room was somewhat cluttered, although he maintained that he could easily find any object in less than five minutes (unless it was in the closet — that could take up to five hours.. .).

"I'm going to be late!" he panicked, throwing the backpack around his shoulders and charging for the door. He ripped his white beret off his bedpost on the way and nearly screeched as the hat _actually_ ripped as he tore it off. Infuriated with himself and the bedpost, Tino aimed a kick at the bedpost while flinging his ruined beret into his closet like a Frisbee. He then proceeded to whimper in pain as he grabbed his toe, which had surely been broken by the stupid bedpost .

Finally, he flung himself out of his dorm room, which was a single, and hurtled down the stairs and out of the building to run straight into a fifty-five kilometer per hour wind blasting him straight back inside. He almost growled (severely alarming several other students who happened to be passing by) and charged outside again, making extremely slow progress to his morning Microbiology 325 class. The building was in sight of his dorm, but it was still distant.

Tino pushed against the wind, which was billowing his sky blue shirt and brown pants so much that he resembled a multicolored balloon, and stumbled towards his class's building, glaring venomously at the few cars that rolled by on the street. Almost causing several crashes from the severity of his glare and the somewhat adverse reactions of the drivers as they screamed and completely forgot to control the wheels, Tino continued on his way and finally collapsed inside the building after a long struggle.

And somehow, as he fell into his normal seat in the lecture hall, Tino still had five minutes to go until class started. Immediately when he plopped down and drew out his notebook and several pens (all fountain pens; even the professor was jealous), his friend Elizabeta Héderváry began to babble at him.

"Hey, Tino," the Hungarian woman said, patting Tino's bare hair. "Where's your beret today?"

"I accidentally —"

"Yeah, so I've got an appointment so I've got to skip class today," continued Elizabeta, steamrolling over Tino's reply as she fingered the orange flowers in her hair. "Can I see your notes later? Thanks!"

And without further ado, Elizabeta stood up and span away in an elegant pirouette. Her brown hair floated around her and whipped a few people in the face as she passed by them; she was laughing all the while, a laugh that was somehow both manic and graceful bubbling from her mouth as she twisted out of the lecture room.

And then, of course, she let out an ungraceful yelp the moment she was out of the room, as she had slipped on a banana peel that someone had left carelessly on the ground. The Hungarian crashed to the floor and the professor shut the door tiredly, already used to Elizabeta's strange tendencies.

"Just because you're a swimmer and a dancer doesn't mean you have to express it everywhere you go," muttered Tino, his eyebrows quirked in a resigned fashion as he watched his friend leave.

"Ignoring that interesting display," said their professor, an old man who pronounced many words in strange manners (for instance, "beige-eel" instead of "bagel, " which confused and concerned the class for several days when he said he would bring in enough "beige-eels" for everyone to eat), "let us begin class."

* * *

An hour later, Tino walked out of the class feeling delightfully refreshed. He had a passionate love for and an unmatched talent in the biological sciences, so the microbiology class was one of his favorites. He had his molecular biology class in thirty minutes, but, with nothing else to do, he made his way to that class as well (which he usually did; he was almost always there immediately after his microbiology class), planning on sitting outside of the door and studying his notes.

He did not expect to see the professor, Mr. Rome, standing outside lecturing a _very_ tall blond student who looked like he was about to murder someone.

"If you fail another test, your future in this course will be very grim," the professor said. "I'm not sure why you did so badly on this exam, since you're usually a very bright student, but I expect a better performance on the next test ."

Tino stood awkwardly on the side, wishing that he could have escaped eavesdropping on the duo.

And then Mr. Rome caught sight of him.

"YOU!" he practically bellowed, pointing a finger at Tino, who quailed under the fierce pointing.

"I'm sorry!" he wailed, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop!"

The tall, blond student had turned as well, and he was glaring at Tino behind a pair of metal-framed glasses. Tino nearly fainted.

"I just had a wonderful idea," said Mr. Rome, eyes glinting as he ran a hand through his brown hair. "Väinä-whatever-inen, I hereby appoint you to tutor Oxenstierna here!"

A few seconds passed in silence.

"WHAT?!" screamed Tino, although whether this was a reaction to the butchering of his last name or to the fact that he had just been assigned the task of tutoring the incredibly fierce-looking and tall student in front of him, nobody knew.

The tall student's glare intensified at Tino's negative reaction. "No need," he muttered, the first words he had spoken since he had been taken out into the hallway by the professor.

"VäinäMinun, do you have any objections? " interrogated — asked — Mr. Rome. Tino slowly shook his head, extremely confused about the entire situation and feeling like he had just been thrown into a trap. "How about you, Oxenstierna?"

The blond student shook his head.

"Alright then, it's settled," declared Mr. Rome. "VäinäMunna, you will tutor Oxenstierna until his grades improve. As possibly the brightest biology student I have ever or will ever have, I expect you to help Oxenstierna plenty. See you later!"

"Wait!" called Tino, panicking. "For one thing, my last name is Väinämöinen, so stop referencing Pokémon — please. And for another thing, what am I tutoring Mister — Mister Oxenstierna in, anyways?"

"Well, he's taking the exact same class as you: Molecular Biology 456. So, there you go," said Mr. Rome. "Have fun, you two!"

And with a waggle of his eyebrows, Mr. Rome vanished into his classroom.

Tino stood outside facing the door and gaping like a goldfish. "What just happened?"

A tap on his shoulder shocked Tino out of his stupor. "Err... I... actually don't know your name," said Tino as he turned to address the other student.

"Berwald Oxenstierna. Swedish. Third year."

Tino hesitantly extended a hand; Berwald shook it surprisingly gently.

"Tino Väinämöinen. I've got Finnish roots, so I guess that's one way that we sort of relate, huh?" chuckled Tino weakly. "I'm in my second year of college, by the way."

"In this class as a second year?" mumbled Berwald, his facial expression shifting minutely. Tino laughed.

"Yeah, I'm sort of a biology person. I tested out of the beginner courses with almost perfect scores, so they threw me up few classes."

"Hm."_  
_

Tino bit down a whimper as Berwald's glare seemed to grow even more ominous, but the whimper forced its way out as sort of sneeze-cough-hack.

"So," said Tino once he had recovered from his strange fit, "when's a good time for you then? For a tutoring session, I mean; I'm free after four this afternoon ."

"Five?" asked Berwald quietly. Tino nodded.

"Okay. Here, let's get each other's phone numbers just in case."

After a moment of exchanging numbers, Berwald nodded curtly to Tino and went back into his class; Tino sat outside and pulled out his notes, feeling slightly overwhelmed and slightly afraid. The Swedish student simply _looked_ intimidating, and it didn't help that he was almost twice Tino's height ("A hyperbole," said Tino's Novel Analysis 256 professor, "is an exaggeration, not meant to be taken literally. It helps to get the point across." Tino hated that class.).

But now, with nothing left to do but continue with his classes, Tino sat outside Mr. Rome's lecture hall and blankly read through his notes as he steeled himself to accept the newest activity that had barged into his life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Tutor**

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 2

* * *

"Kids," said Mr. Rome, "we've got a new student today! He's just transferred into this class, so say hello to... What's your name?"

The class moaned at their professor's vapidness. The new student, wearing deep blue clothes worthy of the sea, turned his head slowly and stared at Mr. Rome with blank, unblinking, blue eyes.

"Just call me Norway."

The professor was slightly put off by the lack of emotion and the strange name of the student before him. "Norway? Isn't that a continent?"

"I hope you mean country," said the student, "because then I would say yes."

"Oh, country, of course!" clamored Mr. Rome, laughing. "Silly me! Anyways, why don't you go sit next to... uh... Väinämoron up there?"

A pen came flying down from Tino, smacking the professor in the forehead and spilling ink over his face. Mr. Rome winced. "Really?" fumed Tino, standing up and pounding his palms on the table. "You've changed from Pokémon to MORON?" He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Professor..."

"Yes?" asked Mr. Rome weakly, attempting to wipe the ink out of his preciously styled hair.

"GO — NEVER MIND!"

"You should take anger management lessons," said "Norway," who had somehow managed to suddenly appear at Tino's side when no one was looking. Tino shrieked and fell backwards, crashing into the student behind him (some annoying guy named Francis that enjoyed flirting with any object that came into contact with him).

On cue, the Frenchman span around elegantly with Tino now in his arms. "Oh, my dear Tino," claimed Francis, "how could I have never noticed that you sat directly in front of me before? Oh, my eyes cannot believe the sight of you in my arms, I wish I could —"

A solid kick to his face shut Francis up and forced him to relinquish his hold on Tino. The perpetrator, who was none other than Mr. Rome himself, grinned and courteously escorted Tino back to his seat.

"Anyways, err, Norway, you can sit here," said Mr. Rome, gesturing to the seat on the right of Finland's, not noticing that the Norwegian male had already made himself comfortable at the seat.

"Of course," replied Norway.

As Mr. Rome made his way back down towards the front of the lecture hall, Tino nervously began talking to the new student.

"So... why are you called Norway?" asked Tino.

"Why shouldn't I be?"

The reply almost seemed genuinely confused. Tino shook his head. "Never mind. So, uh, why'd you transfer?"

"I was bored."

Tino blinked. "With your other class?"

"With life."

Tino started and leaned away slightly, more than a little bit concerned. "Uh... are you okay?"

"Fine, thank you."

It was then that Tino noticed that a curl of Norway's hair was floating separately from his body, and that the curl had its own miniature dot floating separate from the _curl. _Tino decided that he should just stop asking questions.

"Yo, Ancient," called one of the other students. If Tino remembered correctly, the man's name was Gilbert Beilschmidt. For some reason, he insisted that he was Prussian and not German...

"I thought I said not to call me that!" shrieked Mr. Rome. "NOW EVERYONE WILL THINK I'M OLDDDDD!"

"You are!" said Feliciano Vargas cheerfully, waving a random white flag that he pulled out from his pants. "You're my grandpa! Hey, Grandpa!"

"Shut up, bastard!" roared Lovino Vargas, Feliciano's bad-tempered brother. "Nobody's supposed to know that!"

"Ancient" Mr. Rome was practically crying as he jumped over and hugged his two grandchildren. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST TOLD EVERYONE!" he wailed, tears pouring out of his eyes and drenching the Vargas brothers. "NOW EVERYONE WILL THINK I'M OLD!"

The hubbub and noise level in the class rose quickly as everyone realized that they wouldn't be doing anything during the class period. Norway turned to Tino.

"Two questions," he said. "One, how is he a grandfather when he looks like he's about thirty. Two, does anything ever get done in this class."

Even though he said they were questions, Norway's lack of inflection turned the questions into statements. Tino responded with a shrug.

"We don't really know how old he is. He lied one time and said he was sixteen and we all said he was stupid, so he just settled for not telling us at all. And yes, we get things done when Mr. Rome doesn't get distracted."

"Which is how often."

"Every few days."

"Darn."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

* * *

Other than his strange molecular biology class, the day passed without trouble for Tino. He was sitting in his dorm room, pulling out any notes he had ever taken to prepare to tutor Berwald. It was only ten minutes after five when he realized that he had never set where to meet with Berwald.

Tino quickly grabbed his phone and scrolled to Berwald's number, dialing the number with shaking fingers.

"Hm?" was the first sound from the other end.

"Uh, hey, B-Berwald!" stammered Tino. "I just realized, we never said where to meet, so —"

"M'outside your room."

"Eh?" said Tino blankly.

He stood up, walked over to the door, opened it, saw one Swedish student standing outside, closed the door, walked back to his bed, grabbed a pillow, screamed in embarrassment into the pillow, put the pillow back, walked back to the door, opened the door, and let Berwald in.

"Sorry about that," sighed Tino, leading Berwald to the small table next to his bed. "Anyways, let's get started then. How much time do you have?"

"Lots."

"Okay, well, I thought we could just do some review of the basics, then," said Tino, thinking. "Maybe start with scientists and discoveries?"

"Hm."

Berwald sat down on comfortable, cushioned chair while Tino sat on his bed.

"Okay, let's go. So, of course, Watson and Crick..."

Berwald immediately tuned out the words and simply listened to Tino's voice, happily indulging himself whilst maintaining a stony exterior appearance. He leaned back into the chair, contentedly studying Tino's large eyes as they slid back and forth, reading from a piece of paper.

It must have been an eternity later when Tino finally looked up from his paper. "Okay, quick quiz."

Wait, what?

"So, who did the x-ray crystallography for DNA?"

"Rosalind Franklin."

"And who determined semi-conservative DNA replication?"

"Matthew Meselson and Franklin Stahl."

After a few more questions, Tino smiled, albeit a bit confusedly at Berwald's easy replies. "It looks like you've got a good grasp on this. Alright, going on..."

An hour later, Tino snapped his book shut. "Great, I think we got a good start. When do you have time next?"

Berwald thought about his schedule for a moment, his expression changing from "glare" to "super-glare," startling Tino so much he nearly wanted to curl up under his blankets and cry.

"Tomorrow... same time."

"Uh... okay. That works for me too," said Tino, attempting to mask his fear (rather unsuccessfully) as he ushered Berwald out of the room. "See you later!"

When the door finally shut, Tino collapsed onto his bed and sighed. "Well, that wasn't that bad, was it?" he murmured, talking to himself. "I just want to sleep now..."

And that was when he remembered that he still had an essay to write for his psychology class.

A six-page essay.

Berwald was halfway to his own dorm when he heard a familiar voice scream, "NOOOOO!"

* * *

"So, what's this I hear about you tutoring big, tall, and scary Berwald Oxenstierna?" asked Elizabeta the moment they set foot in their shared microbiology class again. It was Friday; it had been three days since Tino's first tutoring session for Berwald.

"I don't really know either," replied Tino, "And how did you find out?"

"I have my sources."

"Of course you do. And he's not really that scary once you get to know him... I think. He is pretty tall, though, and it's so not fair." Tino offered a piece of licorice to Elizabeta.

"No thanks," she said, declining the sweet. "Well, I'm going to get some info on this... I think it smells fishy."

"That's because we're dissecting fish today," said Tino. "Although I don't know why... this is a microbio class, not an anatomy class."

"Blame the prof," said Elizabeta. "Anyways, it's time to rustle up some old contacts..."

Tino paused. "I really don't want to know who these old contacts of yours are."

Elizabeta laughed. "Oh, don't worry. I'll clear up the whole situation faster than you can say Berwald."

"Ber—"

A piece of licorice was hastily shoved into Tino's mouth. Elizabeta smirked. "Told you so."

Tino chewed around it ferociously and swallowed. "Okay... now I have to think of what to do to make you mad."

"Aw, Tino's trying to get revenge," cooed Elizabeta, practically strangling Tino as she cuddled him. "So cute!"

Tino extracted himself from her grip and went to the professor, talking for a moment with a grin. The professor nodded, and Tino came back looking extremely satisfied.

"What did you do?" asked Elizabeta menacingly. Her hand twitched towards her bag. Tino smirked.

"Nothing much. Just added a partner to our dissection group."

Another student walked over, smiling until he caught sight of Elizabeta.

"You!" he gasped, stumbling backwards. "YOU!"

Elizabeta gasped. "YOU DAMN ROMANIAN!" she shrieked, chasing after him immediately; the Romanian student who Elizabeta fostered a deep hate for ran away, muttering random things under his breath. "TINO, I'LL DEAL WITH YOU LATER!"

The Finnish student simply laughed and began dissecting his fish.

* * *

"...Flood."

That was the only word out of Berwald's mouth as he surfaced from a deep layer of water. He had been sleeping peacefully in his third floor dorm room until he breathed in water instead of air; naturally, he woke up and burst to the surface to find his room immersed in water.

Berwald waded through the water and unhinged his door, climbing on top of it to float down the hallway. Other students were screaming as they suddenly found themselves submerged in water; an alarm of some sort was already ringing.

A while later, after all the students were rescued and placed on the first floor. By now, it was nearly three in the morning. A cool voice addressed them all.

"A pipe on the third floor has broken. All students with third floor rooms must relocate for an unknown amount of time. Please attempt to find room with friends and family, and if this is impossible, please contact the management office. Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your night."

Berwald stood impassively to the side; everyone gave him a wide berth, leaving him with, at least, plenty of room. The Swede frowned slightly; frankly, it was upsetting that everyone seemed to avoid him.

"YO, SWEDEN!"

Okay, so everyone except for that idiot who insisted on calling himself "Denmark."

"M'name's Berwald," mumbled the Swedish student, glaring at the Dane.

"It's Sweden," declared the spiky-haired Danish student.

"Why are you even awake?" asked Berwald, glaring at him. They weren't exactly friends in Berwald's opinion, but the Dane insisted on obnoxiously interfering in Berwald's life.

"Why can't I be?"

"Your room's on the first floor."

"Yeah, I was just about to offer you the chance to stay in my room since yours is kinda destroyed!" said Denmark, grinning. "How 'bout it? It's an offer you can't refuse!"

Berwald hesitated, but with nowhere else to go, he only had this option. "Alright..."

"Great! Just bring your stuff and let's go! This is gonna be great, oh, man!" Evidently, the Dane was extremely excited.

When the two reached Denmark's room, the Dane kicked open the door and pulled Berwald in. "Go ahead, put your stuff there, and you can make yourself at home!"

But Berwald's expression had changed from a disgruntled one to one of utter disbelief (although this simply looked like he was glaring especially hard...). "What is this?"

"It's my room," said Denmark. "Jeez, I didn't think you were _that _dumb!"

The room was filled with random clothes, old food boxes, chunks of wood and — Berwald blinked — a solid, metal battleaxe hung up on the _ceiling_ with the sharp edge facing _down_.

"...Trash heap."

And with those last words, Berwald turned and left Denmark to wilt in disbelief at the insult to his room.

But now, Berwald realized, he had nowhere to go.

An idea suddenly sparked in his mind.

Well, maybe he did have somewhere...

* * *

"Who the _heck_ is knocking at three in the _freaking morning_!" screamed Tino hoarsely as the clear sound of knocking on his door rang through the room.

Tino stormed towards the door, still in a sleepy rage, and wrenched it open to come face-to-face with a sopping wet Berwald. Add the creepy, red lights that lit the hallways at night in the dorm, and the water looked like blood.

Tino's mouth fell open as his mind registered the sight of a blood-covered Swedish student glaring at him.

And then he screamed and slammed the door in Berwald's face.

An understandable mistake, really.


	3. Chapter 3

**Tutor**

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 3

* * *

By six o'clock, Tino believed himself to be safe from the wrath of the whoever-it-was outside his door a few hours ago. Hesitantly, he pushed back his covers (he had been cowering under the blankets) and crept to the doorway after changing out of his pajamas and into some nicer clothes.

Opening the door, he nearly screamed again as a body tumbled backwards onto his feet.

"OHYAA — Berwald!"

Tino collapsed and shook the Swedish student's limp body.

"DID THE MURDERER GET YOU? BERWALD, NOOOOO!"

The Swede mumbled something and opened his eyes, blinking through his glasses to see Tino's worried-almost-crying face. He wondered mildly if he was daydreaming again. And then Tino exclaimed, "You're alive!"

"Why wouldn't I be?" grumbled Berwald, adjusting his glasses.

"Some creepy guy showed up in front of my door at three in the morning," Tino said, bluntly informing Berwald of the situation. "I think he's a murderer."

"Three..." Hmm. That was about the time that Berwald was getting a door slammed in his face. "Tha' was me."

"Oh, okay, I — wait, what?"

"Me."

"That was you."

"Hm."

"Why exactly were you covered in blood?"

"Wasn't."

Indeed, as Tino examined the Swede's clothing, there were no disgusting bloodstains; the clothes were simply rather crinkled. "Why were you drenched then?" burst Tino, helping the taller student onto his feet and ushering the Swede into his room.

"Flood in my dorm... water pipe was broken."

Tino grabbed the bags outside in the hallway. "This stuff yours?" he asked. Berwald nodded from his seat at Tino's desk; Tino dragged Berwald's belongings in. "So, what happened?"

"Water pipe broke... flooded my dorm. They need to repair it; told everyone to room with someone else."

"And you want to room with me?" questioned Tino. Berwald nodded slowly. "Um... I guess you can room here. But then we'd have to figure out what to do with space and everything, because I don't really have a lot of room."

"Got a sleeping bag," Berwald muttered. "I'll take the floor."

"Oh no, you're my guest," Tino said, blustering around quickly. "You can take the bed, I'll sleep on the floor."

_Sleep in Tino's bed._

The sound of a small implosion burst throughout Berwald's mind.

The Swede barely managed to choke out half of an argument before Tino slammed down the debate.

"You can have the bed," Tino said; his voice was cold, his eyes were steel, and his expression was fearsome. A moment later, he reverted back to his usual mannerisms. "Really, I don't mind!"

Berwald blinked. _He enjoys debates._

"Okay."

Tino immediately set to work changing the sheets, insisting that Berwald should sleep on clean sheets.

Berwald simply sat at the chair and wondered what divine intervention landed him in Tino's room for the next few weeks.

Or months. Another pipe _might_ just, well, explode again...

* * *

The whispers of rumor-spreading and espionage filled a darkened room. A woman with long, brown hair sat at the head of a table illuminated by candles.

"Everyone, our goal is to discover the purpose as to why Tino Väinämöinen was placed in charge of the task of tutoring Berwald Oxenstierna. I expect everyone to perform their duties to their best abilities, unless someone wants to face a dreadful punishment."

A simultaneous cackle arose from two people in the room. Eerie music added to the haunted scene.

"Eliza —"

"MY NAME IS 'HUNGARY,' JUST LIKE WE AGREED! GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK HEAD, GILBERT!"

"You just called me Gilbert. I'm 'Prussia,' idiot."

The eerie piano music halted, and electric lights brightened the room completely. Gilbert, the self-proclaimed "Prussian," had pounded foreheads with Elizabeta.

"CALL ME IDIOT AGAIN, _'PRUSSIA,'_ AND I'LL KNOCK YOU OUT!"

"OH YEAH? LIKE _YOU_ COULD KNOCK THE AWESOME _ME_ OUT!"

When a frying pan suddenly appeared in Elizabeta's hand, Gilbert started and backed away slowly, holding out his hands as though he were placating a wild animal.

"Now now, Eliza, I mean, Hungary, I mean — whatever! You know you love me, it's me, your precious friend Gilbert, you wouldn't — AHHHHHH!"

Roderich Edelstein, the Austrian music prodigy, looked up from his seat at the piano. "You two... are always acting like children," he scoffed, turning back to the piano. Secretly, however, as he heard various shrieks (mainly those of pain, from Gilbert), he was amused. And so, he began to play a lovely, enthusiastic, jumpy little piece.

"Gilbert's unconscious! Roderich, help me! He's bleeding!"

"Do I have to?"

"..."

"..."

"Yeah, we can just leave him here. He'll be fine."

And so, Gilbert Beilschmidt was left in agony on the floor as Elizabeta joined Roderich at the piano, tapping away at some strange piece that Roderich easily improvised a harmony with.

* * *

"So, what did you find out?" asked Tino glumly as he glimpsed Elizabeta's smirking face. Class hadn't started yet, and the two were conversing about their respective days. "Bad news?"

"Huh?"

"You're smirking. That never means anything good. So what did you find out about Berwald?" repeated Tino. Elizabeta grinned weakly.

"Well... I was just laughing because I beat up Gil—err, 'Prussia' again. Not that you know who 'Prussia' is."

"Gilbert?"

"Please sign this form that legitimizes any attempts to induce amnesia in you," Elizabeta said bluntly, holding out the paper.

"Only if you sign this form legalizing a search and seizure of your dorm room," countered Tino. Elizabeta looked highly affronted.

"Now why would anyone want to search and seize anything in my room? It's not like I'm stashing illegal stuff there."

Tino raised his eyebrow. Elizabeta continued to hold her dignified expression before cowering and she leaned in to whisper, "You... wouldn't _actually_ use that, right? And you wouldn't actually tell anyone... right?"

"What? About your questionable stash of pictures?"

"..."

"Oh, of _course_ not," continued Tino, his voice growing in volume. "I would _never_ tell anyone about your —"

"Shut it!" hissed Elizabeta. "Or I won't share my juicy info with you!"

"You don't have any. You just beat Gilbert up again. As usual."

"Tch. Well... I was holding back because I thought you wouldn't like to hear this, Tino." She seemed to be criticizing him with her shaking finger, but Tino saw the not-very-suppressed pervert in her eyes. "I heard that you're _sleeping _with him, Tino."_  
_

And Tino choked on the licorice he had just placed in his mouth. "WHAT?"

"I know, right?" said Elizabeta, calmly commenting as though she were talking about the weather. "I was thinking some interesting thoughts at first, but then I was like, 'No way!'"

"Your idea of 'interesting thoughts' is equivalent to everyone else's idea of a pervert of the worst kind. Now tell me, who told you that?" growled Tino, crushing his new beret in his hands as he clenched the cloth. "Who?!"

"Oh, I heard it from some weird kid who heard it from some third year who goes by the name 'Denmark.'"

"Thanks. Hey, I just came up with a game. Wanna join?" said Tino, honey-like sweetness practically dripping from his words. Elizabeta shrugged.

"Sure."

"I call it, 'Kill the Third Year Denmark,'" Tino said sweetly, turning to face the front of the class as the presentation was put on the projector. "And there are no rules."

Elizabeta grinned. Whoever this Denmark person was, they were going to get it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Tutor**

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

Chapter 4

* * *

Denmark's immediate reaction when he entered his room was an extremely piercing scream.

"Shut up, Dane," said Norway, who was sitting calmly on the cluttered couch and flipping through an article on fjords.

"WHERE'S MY AX, NOR?" shrieked Denmark, charging in and staring at the place on the ceiling where his ax once hung from. "WHERE?"

"My intestines," replied Norway vaguely, idly flipping a page. "I ate it."

"Oh. That's okay then. Why are you here?"

Norway's eyes slid up from his article to stare petulantly at Denmark. "I felt like coming. And you don't care that your ax is gone?"

"Meh. Now, if you said someone took it, then I'd be mad."

"Someone took it."

"I thought you ate it?"

"I lied."

"Oh. ARGH, NORWAY, WHO TOOK IT? TELL ME!"

"Some second years."

Denmark paled. "Wait, what? I've been keeping it successfully for the past three years! And now some second years just waltz in and steal it? Oh, this is WAR!"

Norway stood up and offered his hand out. "I'm here to ally with you," he said solemnly. "Well?"

"I accept!" declared Denmark, shaking Norway's hand. "Let's go get those idiots! They'll pay for messing with the great Denmark!"

The two third years stepped out of the room and went outside, preparing for battle.

* * *

"Hey," Elizabeta said suddenly. A devious smirk popped onto her face. "You never denied it, Tino."

The Finn turned. "Denied what?"

"That rumor that I told you about."

Tino blushed scarlet. "Of course it's fake! I'm not _sleeping _with him like _that_, he's just sleeping in my bed —"

"Excuse me?" said the Hungarian woman, laughing. "Maybe I need to install some cameras in your room. I've already got some in... hmm... well, there's —"

"I do not need to know about your disturbing escapades, Eliza," Tino said hurriedly. "Besides, he's sleeping in my bed as in he's rooming with me while his dorm room gets repaired."

"What?"

"It got flooded."

"Ah. And you're in the bed too?"

"No! I'm sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag!"

Elizabeta laughed at Tino's increasing blush. "You're so easy to rile up. Anyways, what should we do with this ax?"

They were in the Hungarian's dorm room, where Denmark's battleaxe sat on her bed. Tino shrugged.

"Ship it to Australia."

"Nah, how about Japan? I've got a... _contact_ over there."

"...I do not want to know what 'contact' means. Sure."

And, with Elizabeta assuring Tino that she would see to the postage, Tino was pushed out of the room while the Hungarian woman wrapped and prepared the lovely battleaxe. It would make a lovely present.

* * *

"YO, SWEDEN!"

Berwald glared at the fast approaching Denmark. "What?"

"You know that little Finnish kid you're rooming with?" hollered Denmark, promptly informing all of campus of the situation. "Well, what's his name?"

"Why d'you want to know —"

"Finland, okay!"

"S'not Finland, it's —"

"Don't care, ya stupid Swede," Denmark practically sang. "Thanks a lot!"

By now, Berwald was getting strange looks from all of the passerby. Helplessly, the Swede simply continued walking; his glare seemingly intensifying, other students wisely stayed out of his way.

"Why'd he care?" murmured Berwald, several scenarios entering his mind. "..."

He'd ask Finland — _Tino_, curse that Dane — later.

* * *

"Administration has approved your request," a cool voice said through the phone. "You are free to wage unrestricted war on Mr. Denmark. Please refrain from damaging school property."

"Pfft, you call it unrestricted if I can't even blow up the fountain?" said Tino, snapping his phone shut. "Whatever, at least they approved it. Now... it's time to make some plans. Elizabeta must be notified immediately."

His phone vibrated; he glanced at the identification and grinned. "Oh, do I have some good news for you," he said, talking to whoever was on the other end.

* * *

Getting pulled into another of Tino's wars was not exactly what Eduard von Bock wanted to receive as a wake-up call one chilly November morning. But when his Finnish friend called and gave him full command over surveillance and strategical planning, his adrenaline level had spiked.

Technology was the Estonian's best friend; as a second year, he had already made his decision of majoring in information technology.

He was also part of the university's choir club. Interesting.

But now, with basic information from Tino, Eduard von Bock opened his laptop and quickly opened the university's database (which he had hacked into on the second day of school — the first day was for unpacking) to scan for these strange "Denmark" and "Norway" people.

Completely illegal, but who would know?

Soon, information was streaming on his computer screen about Denmark and Norway; the university kept a surprisingly thorough information base. Smirking, Estonia opened a file and began to create plans for the great war. Tino had even given him permission to name the sides; Estonia quickly typed in some words.

_The Great University War  
The Finno-Ugrics: Tino Väinämöinen (Finland), Elizabeta Héderváry (Hungary), Eduard von Bock (Estonia)  
__The Eastern Nordics: Denmark (Denmark), Norway (Norway)_

Eduard leaned back and surveyed the title page. It listed the participants and which country they represented; it was always nice to keep records. And with this, Eduard gave a rather large cackle. However displeased he acted, he loved joining the war.

* * *

"Okay, so, with cytosine methylation in bacteria, we can see that their DNA is then protected from their REs, right? But when the bacteriophage injects its DNA or RNA into the bacterium, the REs go and chop it up. That's the natural defense system, and, in the lab, we use REs from bacteria. Now, moving on..."

Tino was blathering out another tutor session to Berwald, who was nodding blankly as Tino plowed through his notes. It wasn't as if Berwald wasn't paying attention; he was just paying attention to something else.

When the Finn suddenly stood up, Berwald blinked. "Hm?"

"Getting some water," yawned Tino. "It's getting late, I guess we should stop here anyways."

The digital clock in Tino's room read 10:00 p.m. Berwald nodded and grabbed some things for a shower; Tino took out his sleeping bag and unrolled it on the floor.

It was 10:20 when Berwald walked back in the room with damp hair and no shirt. Tino heard a shuffling noise behind him and turned around.

"Okay, I'll go shower — eep!"

Berwald glanced up; his glasses were lying on the table and he couldn't see anything, which Tino was extremely grateful for considering his face was quickly nearing a reddened state that could be called radioactive.

"B-Berwald! You're b-back already! I'll just go now, going, bye, gone!"

And Tino fled the room, slamming the door shut. Berwald blinked and slid on his glasses before unearthing a shirt from his suitcase filled with clothes. He slid it over his torso and squinted at the closed door before shrugging and opening a textbook.

In the meantime, Tino was fiercely brushing his teeth after his shower, willing his mind to forget the images of his roommate's shirtless figure, because, frankly, he did not want to be haunted by the sight in his fantasies — err... nightmares. Squeezing another inch of toothpaste out of the tube, Tino continued to scrub at the plaque on his teeth, ridding himself of the dirty thoughts — _bacteria._

By then, Tino was ready to pull his hair out in exasperation as he spat out the toothpaste and rubbed his eyes.

"Okay, Tino," he muttered to himself, "calm down. He's hot, so what? Don't care, don't care, don't care."

And Tino went back to his room, enormously relieved that Berwald was fully clothed and did not seem to notice anything.

Lesson of the day: denial is a powerful force.


	5. Chapter 5

**Tutor**

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia (I'm getting tired of typing this). Oh wait, here's a new one: I don't own Harry Potter either!

Chapter 5

* * *

When Tino woke up, Berwald was still sleeping soundly on the bed. The Finn slipped out of his sleeping bag and quietly padded to his closet, getting dressed quickly before heading for the door.

Tino opened the door and leaned forward, as though to take a step, but then stopped. The doorway, empty air, was shimmering when vague rays of light struck it. The Finn blinked and then realized that the entire door way had been sealed off with clear tape; gingerly, he pressed a finger to the tape and found that it was extremely sticky and coated with an additional layer of clear super glue.

"This can only mean one thing," he whispered grimly, grabbing a pair of scissors and deftly slicing through the tape. "That Denmark guy is counterattacking. Although how he ever found out my dorm room is beyond me."

Peeling away the residues of the tape, Tino continued on his way, shutting the door silently to let Berwald sleep longer.

Meanwhile, in the dark corner hiding behind two plants, were Denmark and Norway.

"Damn!" hissed Denmark. "He didn't fall for it!"

"Of course not," said Norway, coldly watching the Finn walk away. "He's not that dumb, unlike you."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"Well, what do we do now?" asked Denmark.

Norway shrugged, but his mind was busy calculating their next moves. "We should find out his schedule."

"How?"

"I'll do it. You focus on distracting his friends so I have free time."

Denmark paused for a moment and then grinned sheepishly. "Who're his friends again?"

"Figure it out yourself."

"Nor," whined Denmark, "you're such a bully!"

"Right."

The Norwegian stood up, dusted off his pants, and then turned. "I'll be leaving now. Remember, distract his friends. And figure out what the Finn and Berwald are doing in their dorm."

"Why?"

"I need gossip."

Denmark blinked. "Huh? You need gossip?"

"For bribes."

"Ah. Clever."

"I try."

* * *

"Eliza," said Tino gravely, "they've struck back." They were sitting in an empty classroom together, after getting permission to use it from the absent professor.

The Hungarian woman gasped. "What? Are you injured? We can always get that battleaxe back and give it back to the enemy!"

"I'm fine; their booby trap was pitiful," said Tino. "But we can move ahead with our plans. I assume you have them ready?"

"Oh, yes," said Elizabeta, grinning as she pulled out several papers. She laid them out on the desk; diagrams and text filled the pages. "I've got seven plans right now, four of which are completely ludicrous, two of which are semi-doable, and one of which is amazing and will take them out in one blow."

"Start with that one!" Tino said eagerly. Elizabeta laughed as she extracted a packet of papers from the pile.

"I didn't say you would like it, keep that in mind," said the Hungarian as she showed Tino her plans. Tino grabbed it and quickly read through the first page.

"I don't see what's wrong with it," said the confused Finn, flipping to the next page as Elizabeta cackled.

"Oh, you'll see."

When Tino flipped to the third page, his eyes bulged and he screamed. "WHAT IS THIS?"

"I told you!" guffawed Elizabeta, shaking with mirth as Tino nearly fainted. "I told you! But it'll work, I guarantee it!"

"No!" said Tino. "This — no!"

"What's wrong, don't like it? Or am I just too good of an artist?"

Tino jerked spasmodically as he inspected Elizabeta's drawing further. It was a full body portrait of him and Berwald, standing in the middle of the college campus, completely alone excluding Denmark and Norway (who were dragged into the bushes to watch). But the worst part? He and Berwald were _kissing_. And not just a friendly kiss on the cheek, it was _kissing_ kissing. Both slightly amazed and extremely disturbed, Tino noticed that there was a tiny bit of their tongues visible; immediately after that, he noticed that Elizabeta had drawn herself as inconspicuously as possible in the corner.

"I see that you drew yourself here too," said Tino. The Hungarian blinked.

"Oops. You weren't supposed to see me. The plan was —"

"Let me guess," seethed Tino, his violet eyes glinting dangerously. "You wanted to get me and Berwald to do some inappropriate stuff while you watched, and then after I yell at you for watching, you point out that you were included in the plan all along?"

"Er... something along those lines. I knew I should have just added myself to the portrait later," sighed Elizabeta. "Now I can't get in on the hotness."

"Eliza, I'm going to demote you if you do something like this again," threatened Tino dangerously. Elizabeta screamed when he almost tore the paper apart as he removed it from the packet and snatched it back quickly, stuffing into her bag and out of sight.

"DON'T RUIN IT! I SPENT ALL NIGHT WORKING ON THAT SKETCH, IT'S FOR BERWALD!"

"..."

"What?" asked Elizabeta innocently, whilst berating herself internally for letting her mouth blabber on. She was very similar to Tino in some ways.

"You... are going to send that drawing... to Berwald."

"Er... yeah!"

The mangled sound that garbled from Tino's throat was hard to describe; still, Elizabeta thought as she ran away from Tino as fast as she could, the words "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" distinctly sounded out from the growls.

* * *

The faint whispers of dark magic slowly floated out of the room. Three people stood inside, enveloped in black cloaks and each holding an open book. Different words floated from each of their mouths, originating from the magic of their country of origin.

A diagram on the floor glowed with magic, before spouting a clear image of Tino, who was walking to his next class.

"Success," whispered one of the magic-users, grinning to show a fang. "We've done it! Don't forget, Nor, you owe us."

"Of course, Romania. And you too, England."

"I actually have a name, unlike you two," snapped the remaining figure.

They all pulled down their hoods, revealing their heads.

"We know, Arthur," sighed Romania. "But it's weird if I'm Romania, Norway's Norway, and then you're Arthur."

"Psh, whatever," said Arthur Kirkland, a British student who was fascinated by magic. "So, Nor, what was the point of this again?"

"It's dark magic to reveal the location of a target," explained Norway, dully tracing Tino's surroundings on the rectangular screen of magic. "Denmark and I have declared war on the Finn."

"I've heard that Eduard and Elizabeta are on his side too," piped Romania. "And Berwald too," he added with a smirk.

Arthur gasped. "You don't stand a chance!"

"Technically, Berwald is not involved in this war," said Norway. "But the Estonian and the Hungarian are. I believe that the Estonian's technology skills can almost match my magic, but magic will still reign supreme. The Finn and the Hungarian, though, trump Denmark. As expected."

"Still, why are you spying on Tino?" asked Arthur. "What information are you going to get by watching him go to his class?"

"We are stalking his schedule," said Norway. "Then we can better plan our traps and attacks. We must watch him for one full week."

"Huh?" said Romania. "Wait, this spell only lasts if we stay in our circles!" He indicated the the circles around their feet; the three were arranged to that they stood on the tips of a triangle. "We can sit down, stand up, stretch, but we can't get out of the circles! We'll starve!"

"It's only a week," said Norway. "We'll deal with it."

"But food!"

"Food is one of the five Principle Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration," declared Arthur solemnly. "We can't even use our magic to get food."

"We can't make food out of nothing, but we can summon it," said Norway.

Romania laughed. "Because food flying through the college campus is totally going to be fine."

Norway shrugged. "Whatever keeps us alive to watch the Finn."

"No!" shouted England. "Remember, our club took a secrecy oath! Nobody that is non-magical may learn of us —"

"OI, ARTHUR!" shouted an excited American as he slammed into the dark room. Arthur yelped.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, ALFRED, YOU GIT?" screamed Arthur.

"Aren't you happy to see me? I had to stalk you for months before I found out where you disappeared to for hours on end!" said the American brightly.

"England," hissed Romania, glaring at the American, "deal with him."

"My name is Arthur, Romania! And fine!" Arthur took a deep breath. _"Obliviate,"_ he said, pointing his wand that he pulled out of his robe at Alfred's forehead. Alfred's eyes slipped out of focus and he vaguely stared around the room.

"The Memory Charm, hmm?" said Norway. "Interesting."

"And now,_ Depulso!_" said Arthur, aiming his wand at the hallway; Alfred zoomed out of the room. A sickening crash resounded throughout the building.

"Banishing Charm?" asked Romania. Arthur nodded. "Cool."

And thus, the Magic Club sat down in their circles after England sealed the door shut (_"Colloportus!"_) and watched Tino as he learned about Stockholm Syndrome.

* * *

A finger tapped Tino's shoulder; he turned to see another student with silvery hair sitting next to him in the otherwise empty row of seats.

"Oh... Iceland, right?" asked Tino; they had never really met, but vaguely knew of each other. "Can I help you?"

"No, but I can help you," replied the mysterious Icelander, petting his pet puffin that he carried everywhere with him. "My brother is at his creepy stuff again, and he's watching you."

"Your brother?"

"His name is Norway."

Tino froze. "What?"

"I'm not magical like him and his friends, but I can still sense the magic," said Iceland nonchalantly. "I can feel some sort of spying spell and its being used on you. I have no idea why because I haven't talked with Norway in about a month, but he's definitely spying on you."

The professor suddenly boomed another big idea and Tino turned around hurriedly to scratch down some notes, before turning back to Iceland.

"Is there any way to block it?" asked Tino, although doubting whether or not the Icelander was actually telling the truth. After all, magic didn't exist... right?

"Sure. I carry around all sorts of materials so he can't spy on me."

"Why does he spy on you?" asked Tino curiously.

"Because he's likes to pry into my life and he's overbearingly overprotective. Anyways, I'll lend you some stuff this time, just make sure you don't lose it. Okay?" Iceland pulled out a small, glass bead strung onto a loop of string and dipped it into a luminescent solution before handing it to Tino.

"If you're not magic, how can you block his magic?" asked Tino curiously. "What am I supposed to do with this, anyways?"

"You can stop magic without magic. There are some materials that magic can't pass through just because of the nature of the material. That potion was made by my brother; it'll block magic. He wanted me to use it in case I met someone else with magic, but I just use it against him. You just have to wear it like a necklace."

"Oh, alright," said Tino, taking off his beret before sliding it over his head and under his shirt. "Will this work?"

"Yep. He shouldn't be able to work magic on you."

"Oh... well, thanks," Tino said, still slightly confused. And then the professor declared that his lecture was over, leaving Tino screaming as he realized he had only taken down three lines worth of notes.

* * *

As the magical screen fizzled out, Norway was mentally cursing his younger brother and his own stupidity for giving Iceland the barrier potion against magic.

"Well, smart going, Norway," laughed Romania. "I'll just leave now."

"No point in staying," said Arthur, shrugging as he followed Romania. "You really miscalculated there, Nor."

"I know," snapped Norway, getting up and using his magic to erase the diagram on the floor. "I'll figure something else out."

"Go ahead," said Arthur and Romania simultaneously; they grinned and let the door clang shut on Norway.

* * *

Berwald groggily got up and pushed back the covers of the bed. Sliding on his glasses, he suddenly heard a loud _thump, _and a piece of paper slid under the door of the room. He silently picked it up even as more bumps and sounds came from outside, including a familiar voice. Opening the folded paper, Berwald blinked as he saw a portrait of himself and Tino kissing wildly in a park.

The door clicked as the sound of the lock deactivating beeped.

Tino pulled out his card (which opened his dorm room) and pushed the door open, giving up on Elizabeta, who had shoved the infernal paper under the door of his room, to shred the drawing.

But when he stepped into the room, he found nothing on the floor. Berwald was also missing; with no idea what was going on, he backed out of the room and shut the door tightly again, running off to chase Elizabeta.

Berwald slid out from underneath the bed, guiltily stowing the paper away under his pillow. It was a miracle that he managed to hide noiselessly in the few seconds he had before Tino had entered, but he succeeded in evading the Finn.

He would look more thoroughly at the drawing later.


	6. Chapter 6

**Tutor**

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 6

* * *

"Tino..."

"Huh?"

Tino looked up from his feverish typing on his laptop. He was sitting on the floor, leaning back against the bed. Berwald was doing work at the desk.

"Test in a few days."

The Finn blinked. "Test..." He paled. "OH NO!" he screamed. "THE MOLECULAR BIO TEST! AND I HAVEN'T BEEN TUTORING YOU FOR WHO KNOWS WHAT REASON! I'M SO ASHAAAAAMED!"

"It's okay... What're you doin'?" said Berwald, peering down at the Finn.

"Err..." Tino shifted guiltily. "Nothing much."

"Denmark asked me for yer name the other day," Berwald said, trying to get a gaze of the laptop screen that Tino was hiding. "Any reason?"

Tino blinked. "Really? That's... expected. But right now," said Tino, hastily changing the topic, "I need to tutor you. You know, you have to pass this next test to bring your grade back up."

Closing several windows, Tino pulled up a folder of review material to replace them on his computer, placing the laptop on his bed as he grabbed a textbook. "Okay, let's start..."

Berwald thought about Tino's words for a minute. _That's expected__._ What was that supposed to mean? A brief pulse of jealousy flowed through Berwald. Tino expected that Dane to ask for his name?

But he shouldn't jump to conclusions. Stowing away the thoughts for later, Berwald actually applied himself to the review session for once.

* * *

"Eduard... what have you discovered?"

Elizabeta was video chatting with the Estonian, her lamp the only source of illumination in her darkened room. Creepily staring directly into the camera instead of at the screen, Eduard was more than a bit put off.

"Eliza... kindly remove your face from the camera."

"Whaaaaat? I can't heaaaaar youuuuu..."

"Eliza, stop. Or else I won't give you any info."

"You suck," sulked Elizabeta, pulling away her eyeball from the camera as she munched on an orange from her bed's pillow. "So, what did you find out?"

"Well," said Eduard, "I hacked into the security system cameras of the university, and I've been surveying Denmark and Norway. I also checked out Iceland, Norway's younger brother, but it seems like he's neutral. Denmark's been trying to spy on us—"

"I noticed," said Elizabeta dryly. "I caught him yesterday looking at my — well... Let's just say he's not exactly in perfect health."

Eduard raised an eyebrow. "Oh. I didn't see that. Although I would have paid to."

"I know, right?" laughed Elizabeta, peeling another orange and wolfing it down. "Anything else?"

"Err... I saw your request for me to install a camera into Tino's room, but I think that's a violation of privacy."

"Psh, you're spying on practically everyone in the university by hacking into the security cameras," scoffed Elizabeta. "And you lecture me about privacy?"

"Yeah."

"You're such a killjoy. Anyways, I meant anything else about that Norway guy. He's kind of creepy."

Eduard snapped his fingers. "I forgot! I spied him and Romania and Arthur in some basement doing some weird ritual!"

A loud slam came from Elizabeta's side; she had smashed her hands (violently squishing the orange that had been in her hands) onto the table and stood up. Her face was directly in front of the camera again. "Romania? What's that jackass doing, helping Norway? And Arthur too? The British kid?"

"Yes, the British kid. They seemed to be invoking some sort of dark magic... It was rather creepy," said Estonia.

Elizabeta grinned maliciously. "Well, I'll make sure that Romania's out of the picture. No magic for them. By the way, do you seriously believe they were doing magic?"

"I have no idea," said Estonia, pushing up his glasses. "They were just whispering disturbing words. I think I heard something about an explorer named Dumbledora..."

"Wow," said Elizabeta, blinking. "That is disturbing. I don't really want to know anything else. Just let me tell Tino, 'kay?"

"Why?"

"He's kind of pissed at me right now!" said Elizabeta brightly. "As in _really_ pissed!"

"What did you do?" yelped Eduard. Elizabeta shrugged.

"Nothing much. Just some explicit drawings — uh, nothing!"

Shaking his head, Eduard leaned back in his chair. "Eliza, you're too much. Fine, go ahead, but don't blame me if he chomps your head off before you can tell him. See you later. Thanks for getting rid of Denmark."

"No prob. See ya!"

Their screens closed and Elizabeta shut her laptop. Hoping only that she would survive to see a few more days, she threw herself onto her bed and snuggled into her pillow, the fresh scent of oranges still radiating from it.

* * *

"You... are a failure."

Norway stared impassively at Denmark, who was lying in a clean, white hospital bed covered in bandages.

"How did you fail so much that you landed in the hospital?" asked Norway bluntly, jabbing Denmark in the forehead mercilessly, even as Denmark whimpered in pain.

"Shtoopid Hungarian," complained Denmark, who was having some difficulty talking. "Beat me up."

"Were you being a pervert again?" asked Norway, crossing his legs as he read a book.

"No! Checking her out, then frying pans everywhere!" moaned Denmark thickly against the compresses pressed against his cheeks. Even his explosive hair had wilted.

As Norway snapped the book shut and stood up, the book vanished. "That's considered perverted. Especially from you, because you were probably checking certain _parts_ of her out."

Denmark grinned as best as he could. "You know me so well. Kinda injured right now though."

"I noticed," Norway deadpanned, gesturing at Denmark's full body cast. "Well, I'll sneak in later to perform the healing spell. Just wait until midnight."

Norway turned around and walked away. Denmark grinned.

"Nice ass, Nor —"

Norway snapped his fingers, and a large tree fell from the ceiling and crashed onto Denmark's body.

"OWWWWW!"

"Maybe I won't heal you," said Norway, looking back as nurses and doctors sped to Denmark.

* * *

The night before their exam, Tino was frantically reviewing with Berwald.

"Come _on_!" snarled Tino as he riffled through his folders. Berwald stood to the side, slightly worried over Tino's mental health. "I'm not ready for this exam!" he complained, finally snatching out a few pages of notes that he had been looking for. "Not to mention stupid Denmark's been keeping me up for hours every night!"

At this, Berwald choked and coughed, but Tino did not notice, as he was now drawing diagrams. There was no doubt in Berwald's mind now; a wave of emotions overpowered him.

Internally, Berwald was nearly dying, but his external appearance was normal. Tino had been coming back to the room later and later every night, and Berwald nearly set out to find him several times when he stumbled into the room, greeting Berwald tiredly before falling into his sleeping bag.

Coming up with the obvious explanation after Tino's words and actions, Berwald resolved to kill Denmark the next time he saw him.

He would have to hurry if he wanted to kill the Dane; after all, everyone else was trying too.


	7. Chapter 7

**Tutor**

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 7

* * *

Tino's exam was handed back to him two days after they took the test; he had received a 98%. Breathing a sigh of relief, he glanced around at the other students and nearly jumped when he noticed Norway sitting right next to him, clearly sending Tino a vehement glare. Tino silently shifted to the left as Norway began to mutter strange syllables.

"Ahem, it has come to my attention..."

Mr. Rome was talking; Tino looked up as the professor declared solemnly that the class average had been a 66%. As class came to an end, Tino, who had been packing up, started at the sound of a small cough. Mr. Rome was standing next to him, arms crossed with a disapproving expression written all over his face (and arms and legs and... someone let his grandchildren have fun with markers again...).

"Tino, great job on the exam, as usual," the professor said. "However... we should talk about Berwald's score."

Tino froze in his seat. "Uh... how was it?"

"He received a C on this test, Tino," said Mr. Rome, tapping his foot on the floor and bending down to glare into Tino's eyes. "I thought I could trust you to tutor him well!"

"I'M SORRY!" wailed Tino, backing away quickly, for Mr. Rome was closing in and only about an inch away. "I'LL DO BETTER FOR THE NEXT TEST, I PROMISE! IT'S ALL NORWAY AND DENMARK'S FAULT!"

"What?" said Mr. Rome, standing straight and looking extremely confused (as usual). "Norway? Denmark?"

One of the students in question quickly stood up and stealthily slipped away, but Mr. Rome caught sight of him and nearly barked down his neck.

"NORWAY!"

Norway froze and turned around, a stony expression on his face. "What."

"WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING TO POOR TINO?" screamed Mr. Rome, jumping at Norway with his hands outstretched. "TELL ME!"

Norway flicked the professor on his forehead and sent him flying into the opposite wall. "Nothing," said the Norwegian over the loud crash.

"Liar," hissed Tino, practically shooting violet beams from his eyes as he stared down Norway. "Your creepy magic rituals and everything, I know you're helping Denmark! We'll still win!"

"If you say so," said Norway indifferently, turning and walking away. "But I really think otherwise."

Blinking, Norway suddenly ran outside the classroom and slammed the door shut behind him, just in time to block the heavy desk that had been thrown at him. Shaking his head, he continued on his way.

"Immature," muttered Norway, dully glaring back at the door.

The door opened.

Another desk flew out at Norway.

...

"Ow."

* * *

"So..." said Denmark, grinning as best as he could in his body cast. "You were injured too?"

Norway had a large bandage wrapped around his head several times; a large, egg-like bruise was still visible under the innumerable layers of cloth. "Yes."

They were both in the hospital, the same room that Denmark had been in for a while now. Norway was sitting on his bed, poking his bandage-covered bruise, while Denmark was lying down.

"Why don't you just do your creepy healing rituals? You never healed me, by the way," observed Denmark, casually indicating his broken bones. "You said you would. And then you dropped a tree on me."

"You didn't get the message from that?" asked Norway.

"What message?"

"The one that was carved onto the bark of the tree."

"Oh. No."

Norway sighed. "Of course not, you wouldn't have noticed. You don't have the finesse, the acuity, the ability to see such at thing—"

"Like you?" questioned Denmark, grinning slyly. Norway nodded slowly.

"Like a _girl_?" laughed Denmark, pointing at Norway's longish hair, silk clothes, and barrette. "Like a _girrrrrrrrrrrr_—OWWWWW!"

As another tree fell from the ceiling at Norway's command (where did he keep them?), Denmark was once again crushed as doctors and nurses streamed forth to cart the tree off.

A few minutes passed.

"Did you get the message this time?" asked Norway, eyebrows raised.

"There wasn't one on the tree," wheezed Denmark, clutching his chest. "Couldn't you have chosen something lighter?"

"You idiot, it was a hypothetical message," said Norway. "I dropped a tree on you. Hmm, maybe it means that I want you to suffer."

"Oh. I get it. I think?"

Norway sighed and removed the bandages from his head. Perfectly healed, he waved an impassive good-bye to the crippled Denmark and left the hospital, ignoring Denmark's weak cries as he strolled on his way to prepare healing ingredients for Denmark.

He wasn't _completely_ heartless.

After all, Norway _was_ the reason that Denmark hadn't been discharged yet.

* * *

The moment Berwald entered his dorm room, he was tackled by a flying Finn and pulled into a hug.

"I'M SO SORRY, BERWALD!" wailed Tino, pulling the Swede into the room and shutting the door behind him. "I DIDN'T TUTOR YOU WELL ENOUGH! I SHOULD BE BURNED AT THE STAKE!"

Berwald blinked; his brain was slightly fuzzy and he didn't really understand what was happening beyond the fact that Tino was hugging him.

"I'M SORRY! WILL YOU EVER FORGIVE MEEEEE?"

"Calm down," mumbled Berwald, slowly and awkwardly patting Tino on the back. "I don't know what yer talking about."

Tino sniffled as he let go of Berwald. "Mr. Rome told me you got a C on the exam. It's my fault, I should have tutored you more!"

Berwald was silent for a moment, and then he shrugged. "S'fine. Not yer fault."

"But it is," moaned Tino. A fiery resolve suddenly entered the Finn's eyes. "Alright, we have two more exams and then the final. We're going to study every single day for at least two hours! I will sacrifice myself and help you get an A... wait, what is your grade anyways?"

"95."

"Oh. Well, we don't need to do two hours a day then. One hour should be enough. I guess you had a good grade and then it crashed?" said Tino sympathetically. "It's my fault that it went lower though, you should have a 97 or something! Okay, we'll begin review right now! Come on, Berwald, what are you waiting for?"

The Swede sat down next to Tino and slowly realized that he was completely doomed. He spared a glance at his bag; the corner of their most recent exam poked out of the corner, with a large 97% written in red on the corner._  
_

...

He really didn't want to study for an hour every day.

* * *

In the dark of the night... Tino was awoken by his cell phone vibrating.

Blearily, he grabbed at the glowing screen and vaguely recognized it as a text message from Elizabeta.

He bolted upright. Suddenly, he wasn't so sleepy.

He flipped it open and read the text message; it was an update on information. Detailing pretty much everything that Iceland had already told him, the information was completely useless.

Viciously, he typed back a rather angry message.

On the other end, Elizabeta opened her phone and nearly jumped in fright just _reading_ the text message, it was so scathing. She quickly dialed Tino's number and put the phone next to her ear.

Tino, seeing the call, slid under his sleeping bag to muffle his yelling — err, voice.

"Eliza," hissed Tino as soon as he accepted the call, "I am still hunting you down. Your info was useless, I already heard it all from Norway's younger brother."

"Yeah, I read that," said Elizabeta, laughing weakly. "So, is this Iceland kid on our side?"

"No, he's neutral."

"Okay. Well, the info's not _completely_ useless. We know where one of their bases is now!" said Elizabeta brightly. "The basement where they do magic!"

"..."

"Tino?"

"Okay, you're right," whispered Tino. "I guess I have to forgive you this time. I can't believe you hacked into the camera system! I thought only Estonia could have done that!"

Elizabeta choked. "Um... er, of c-course! I d-definitely hacked the s-system! No problem there! Ahahahahaha!"

Tino narrowed his eyes as Elizabeta's tone shifted guiltily. "Eliza... You didn't hack the system, did you."

Elizabeta sighed. "Nope. It was Estonia."

"I figured," said Tino, slightly amused. "Okay, well, on the basis that we're allies, I won't kill you. Yet."

"Okay, great to now! I'll be moving back to Hungary after this war, just to let you know!"

"Oh, that's nice!" said Tino cheerfully. "I'm taking a vacation in Hungary after this war! Maybe we'll see each other there!"

"... Okay, that's just creepy. Bye!"

"Good bye!" chirped Tino, closing his phone and setting it on the drawer. He sighed and snuggled deeper into his sleeping bag to ward off the slight chill, slowly falling asleep and dreaming about the vindictive pleasure he would have once he beheaded — um, defeated Denmark and Norway.

Defeated.

Most definitely not beheaded.

...

Right.


	8. Chapter 8

**Tutor**

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 8

* * *

The moon shined through the corridors of the hospital, illuminated the dark hallways. The few hospital staff that were walking around suddenly collapsed onto the floor, soundly asleep. A figure seemingly skated along the floors, floating elegantly and rushing towards a certain room.

Denmark looked up from his bed and stared at the doorway. Someone stood there, holding a bag.

"Took you long enough, Nor."

"Shut up, you idiotic Dane," Norway said, dropping his bag of ingredients on Denmark's bedside table. "Be glad I even came. I had to knock out all of the hospital staff."

Denmark grinned. "Did I say I wasn't glad?"

"Tch. Say one more thing and I'm leaving. And you do not want to be left in the middle of a spell," threatened Norway, tracing a circle on Denmark's stomach (over the numerous layers of bandages) and adding arcane symbols to the center. "Trust me."

Immediately shutting his mouth, Denmark watched silently as Norway added items to the circle, placing them in different sectors and orientating them in certain directions. As Norway began to mutter quietly, a soft stream of words flowing from his mouth, Denmark slowly let his eyes close; before he knew it, he was asleep.

* * *

"Denmark's out of the hospital," declared Eduard in a three-way conversation with Elizabeta and Tino. "I saw Norway go do some creepy stuff."

They were in yet another abandoned classroom. Their war plans were progressing slowly, but they were detailing out an effective solution. At least, that's what they thought.

"No problem," said Elizabeta, grinning viciously and cracking her knuckles. "I can put him right back."

"Go knock out Norway while your at it," said Tino. "Anyways, thanks for the info, Eduard. I have to go to class now, so I'll see you all later."

The other two chimed out good-byes as Tino left their conversation; turning back to each other, Eduard and Elizabeta continued to discuss matters of importance, such as the newest ice cream flavor on campus.

...

Maybe this was why their plans were going so slowly.

* * *

Tino froze.

So did Denmark and Norway.

Tino had just left his morning classes and was planning on going to lunch when he ran across —

"THE ENEMY!" screamed the Finn, pointing at them hysterically with his left hand and pulling out his phone to call Eduard and Elizabeta with his right hand. "IT'S THE ENEMY!"

"Uh..." said Denmark. Norway slapped him harshly across the forehead and pointed at the fleeing Finn.

"Come on!" hissed Norway, yanking Denmark along with him as they ran.

Tino shoved his phone away, running as fast as he could to central campus circle where he had told Elizabeta and Eduard to meet him.

Denmark and Norway were chasing him fiercely, but, suddenly, Berwald stepped in front of their path, blocking Denmark. Norway quickly let go of Denmark's hand and sped past the Swede, leaving Denmark to crash into him.

Berwald barely flinched, but Denmark fell backwards, hard. "My gosh, what do you _want_?" complained the Dane, rubbing his back and getting up. "Move it, I need to chase that stupid Finn!"

Something snapped in Berwald. His normally stoic expression turned fearsome as he loomed over Denmark. "Don't call Tino stupid," Berwald said, clearly threatening the Dane if he continued to do so. But suddenly, Berwald drew back, confused. "Aren't ya... with him?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" snorted Denmark. "He's my ultimate enemy in this war that he started. Why would I want to be on his side?"

Berwald eyed him suspiciously, but Denmark pushed the Swede aside. "Chat with you later, but I've got to teach that kid a lesson!"

And with that, Denmark sprinted away.

Berwald watched him go, registering the words that Denmark had said; his eyes widened.

Denmark was _not_ going to even _touch _Tino as far as Berwald was concerned.

But all of them were already far out of sight; Berwald sighed and grimaced, with no choice but to hope that Tino could win against Denmark, whatever they were doing.

Even as he worried, a feeling of triumph entered his chest. Tino _wasn't_ with the Dane! All of his suspicions had been false. The only thing that Tino and Denmark would ever be was mortal enemies.

Berwald allowed himself a small grin.

* * *

The famed circle of central campus was known as a battleground. Mini-wars, often started at the school, would usually be resolved here.

But this was not just some "mini-war." And there was no way that Tino would let their war just _resolve_ here. This was just the first battle.

Eduard was waiting there, sitting on the concrete wall that was built around most of the circumference of the circle. The Estonian's glasses were flashing white as he typed speedily into his computer. "I've cleared away all the passerby."

"Great. How much time do we have?" wheezed Tino, coming to a halt next to Eduard, who was once again using the university's camera system.

"About two minutes for Norway. It looks like Denmark is a bit behind, so four minutes for him. You're lucky my dorm is so close, Tino," said Eduard, grinning. "This will be very fun. I had a feeling that we might use this circle one day, so I've been building stuff all around it for use in a battle."

"Really?" asked Tino, looking around warily. "Well, Eliza and I will do our best to protect you while you activate your weird tech stuff. I hope Eliza gets here soon..."

"Norway's here, Tino," said Eduard. Tino whipped around; the Norwegian had entered the circle, arms crossed.

"Well, well," he said, smirking slightly. "If it isn't the Estonian. And where is your Hungarian friend?"

Tino humphed and refused to look at him. Eduard shrugged.

A minute passed in silence.

"Hey, you guys, are you gonna do something or what?" screamed Denmark, leaping over the concrete wall and landing next to Norway in a crouch. He rose up, grinning. "Or were you all waiting for me —"

"YOU WISH, YOU DUMBASS!" shrieked Elizabeta, suddenly leaping out from a nearby building window, frying pan in hand. Her hair whipped around and her clothes floated elegantly as she plummeted ten floors. The green hat that was on her head was blasted off, hurtling backwards towards Tino and Eduard as she ferociously brought the frying pan down onto Denmark's head.

_CLANG!_

"OWWWW!" screamed Denmark; Elizabeta, who hadn't yet touched the ground, used the rebounding force from smashing Denmark's head to fly backwards, just in time for her hat to land perfectly on her head. She finally hit the ground, glaring at Denmark and Norway.

Norway blinked; even he hadn't expected an entry like that. Denmark was crying on the ground, cradling his head.

"Let's get this party started!" roared Elizabeta, punching the air enthusiastically. She jumped forward again, bringing her frying pan back, ready to smash Denmark into the ground. Yes, _into_ the ground.

Norway stepped in front of his feeble ally and raised a hand; a magical wind streamed from behind him and blew Elizabeta backwards.

"Stop with your creepy magic already!" cried Elizabeta as she was pushed away.

"Why does everyone call it creepy?" asked Norway, somewhat defensively. "It's not like I'm haunting you or something."

"Whatever, it's still creepy!"

Norway rolled his eyes and blew softly at the trio; the soft breath suddenly became searing flames.

Eduard smashed a command into his laptop; jets of water squirted from hoses built into the concrete walls, dousing the flames. Norway tsked and conjured lightning at the water, evaporating it. Eduard grinned and started a program; the circle suddenly split in half, and Norway and Denmark's side suddenly rolled back towards them, a crumbly wave of stone and dirt. Norway raised his hands and conjured a shield, blocking the wave and pushing it back into place in the floor. Suddenly pipes behind the Norwegian opened up, releasing bursts of smoke that Norway had difficulty blowing away; unfortunately (for Denmark), he was unable to see Tino soundly beat up his Danish ally.

Norway tsked again and swept his arms in a wide circle; he vanished, as did a rather bruised Denmark.

"Woo hoo!" laughed Tino, getting up from the floor where he had been attacking Denmark. "We win!"

The trio regrouped and discussed the battle excitedly, but were suddenly flattened by a magical wind that smashed them all into the concrete wall. Norway smirked as he stepped out from behind a veil of invisibility, dragging Denmark along by his hair, and poked each of his opponents. They were all unconscious. Deciding that he should be merciful, he used his magic to send them all back to their respective rooms. Finally, he swept himself and Denmark back to the Dane's room.

Once they arrived, Norway set down Denmark on the sofa. Eyeing his numerous wounds, Norway sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Denmark was useless.

* * *

It was 10:00 p.m. when Berwald arrived back at Tino's room, which was quickly becoming _their_ room. He heard a vague crying from inside; his eyes widened and he slammed the door open to see Tino crying into his knees on the bed.

Tino's head jerked up at the sound, and the Finn quickly tried to stifle his tears.

"H-Hi, Berwald," hiccuped Tino, lip quivering.

Berwald closed the door and stepped over uncertainly, not sure how to comfort Tino. He finally spoke. "What happened?"

Tino sniffed and shot an evil glare at nothing in particular. "Stupid Norway. Stupid magic. We thought we beat them, but then he popped out of nowhere and knocked us unconscious." He sniffled again and burst back into tears.

The Finn slid miserably off the bed and onto the floor, sitting cross-legged and leaning back against the bed. Berwald sat down on his right, awkwardly patting the Finn on the shoulder.

"S'okay..."

Tino smiled tiredly through watery eyes. "At least I can depend on you, Berwald... Oh... We still need to study."

"Not today," said Berwald, firmly squashing the idea (because he really didn't want to study). "Sleep."

Tino nodded drowsily and let his eyes flutter shut as he fell sideways into Berwald. The Swede gulped slightly at the contact as Tino nestled his head into Berwald's shoulder.

Deciding that it would be very ungracious to simply leave Tino at this moment, Berwald pulled the blanket down from the bed and draped it over both of them. Tino snuggled deeper into the warmth of the blanket and Berwald and was breathing lightly soon after.

Berwald looked down at the Finn and gave a ghost of a smile before letting his head lean against Tino's; the feeling of the Finn's soft hair against his cheek was, Berwald decided, quite nice.

And after a few, peaceful minutes, Berwald closed his eyes and drifted into sleep as well.


	9. Chapter 9

**Tutor**

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia. Or _Finding Nemo._

Chapter 9

* * *

Tino yawned slightly, raising a hand to cover his mouth. He blinked and let out a small groan as he felt the pain in his back from sleeping in an awkward position.

And then he realized that his "pillow" was moving.

He turned his head and saw Berwald.

He let out a small squeak and jolted his head upright; Berwald's head simply lolled and fell onto Tino's shoulder, reversing their position from earlier.

"Er... Berwald?"

Berwald breathed lightly, clearly still asleep. Tino poked him gently to try to wake him up, but it was useless. The Swede continued to sleep.

Tino sighed and slowly moved away from Berwald, trying to prevent the Swede's head from falling while extracting himself from the blanket. But as he moved, he realized that there was some resistance. Looking down at his side, he saw that Berwald had wrapped an arm around him sometime during the night. Finding another problem in his way of getting out of the blanket, Tino simply succumbed to his fate and rested there with Berwald's head on his shoulder.

Deciding that he might as well use the time that he had before Berwald woke up, Tino immediately conjured seven plans for revenge against Norway and Denmark, considering the fact that he was still sulking from his defeat yesterday. Refining the plans and simulating them in his head, Tino chuckled darkly and settled back into the bed, waiting... and waiting... and waiting...

"Okay, this is ridiculous," whispered Tino bemusedly, as it had already been an hour since he had woken up. Muttering an apology, Tino slipped out of Berwald's grip and out of the blanket; it took quite a bit of effort though, because, for some reason, Berwald's hand kept tugging him back as he tried to get out.

But finally, Tino quietly left the room after tucking the blanket more securely around Berwald.

The moment the door clicked shut, Berwald's eyes opened. He guiltily stood up and replaced the blanket on the bed; he had been fully awake the entire time.

...

Okay, so he was indulging himself a little bit. So what?

* * *

Denmark was walking down the road casually, healed fully by Norway's magical abilities.

_THUNK_.

An anchor dropped down from the sky and landed on his head, punching him into an awkward squatting position as he let out a squawk-like sound.

Norway swept by, massaging his temples and failing in alleviating his headache, and picked up Denmark, who was now solidly unconscious with a sloth-like expression on his face. The Norwegian shot a glare up at the sky, clearly knowing who had dropped the anchor, as he glided away.

Eduard and Elizabeta smirked from their elevated vantage point in the sky, floating on a piece of metal that Eduard had found in his room somewhere.

"Bullseye!" laughed Elizabeta, a laugh that suddenly stopped as their floating piece of metal sputtered ominously. "Um... Eduard? What's going on?"

"Oh. Our fuel supply on lasts for about five minutes," explained the Estonian. "We'll be falling any second now."

"Please tell me you have a plan to prevent us from dying."

"Um... maybe I'll come up with one as we fall."

The metal emitted its last gurgle — and then it fell, Eduard and Elizabeta plummeting along with it.

"EDUARD, HURRY UP!" screamed Elizabeta, her hair whooshing upwards along with her frying pan; unfortunately, her frying pan was not attached to her, and it flew away into the sky. "OH NO! MY PAN! COME BAAAAACK! _COME BAAAAACK!_"

"MAYBE IF YOU SPEAK WHALE, IT'LL COME BACK!" shouted Eduard to be heard above the rushing wind.

"SHUT UP AND FOCUS ON HOW TO SAVE US!" screamed Elizabeta. "GET US OUT OF THIS MESS, NOW!"

By now, many bystanders had gathered underneath them (as they had been very high up in the air and still had not hit the ground). Eduard frantically pushed buttons that he had installed on the metal, which created some results that deeply disturbed the students below them (such as shooting a large cannonball directly into the floor and blasting apart a large chunk of the ground).

And then, what could be described as an obnoxiously large airbag bloomed like a mushroom from the bottom of the metal, creating a huge bubble of cloth that hit the ground and softened the impact considerably. Eduard and Elizabeta were thrown into the air, but they fell back down into the airbag, safely bouncing.

Eduard laughed weakly at the close brush with death, and Elizabeta punched him.

"I hate you, Eduard," said Elizabeta, raising her hand and catching her frying pan as it fell back down from the sky.

"At least Denmark's wounded?"

"Tch."

* * *

Norway was seething as he entered his class, and he was only infuriated further once he remembered that the ridiculous Finn was in this class, not to mention the annoying professor.

"Class! Today we shall be enjoying the excellence of our youth —"

"Our youth, not yours," interjected the "Prussian" student. "You're not exactly young."

"Oh... Um... I think I'll go cry now," said Mr. Rome, sniffling and shuffling off to his office. "No class today. You all go home. Because I'm too old to teach. I'm so sad. Thanks a lot, Gilbert. You all are so mean. I hate you all. I hate life. I'm leaving. Good-bye."

The door to his office clanged shut; everyone glanced at each other and muttered a simultaneous, "What?"

Norway quickly stood up from his seat, relishing in the opportunity to get away from the Finn next to him. But when he felt an ominous feeling from behind him, Norway quickly ran to the end of the row of seats and whipped back around to see what had alarmed him. The Finn was holding a bottle of glistening blue liquid; he was smirking.

"Hello, Norway," called Tino. The rest of the class had already charged out of the door, eager to spend the hour doing something else. "I managed to get my hands on a little something. Want to try it?"

Norway narrowed his eyes. "Iceland gave that to you, didn't he."

"Yep."

Cursing his younger brother, Norway swore that he would take away all of the magical things he had ever given to Iceland. "I already know what that is. I'm not going to try it."

"What?" said the Finn innocently. "All it does is bind your magic for a few days."

"Like that's no problem at all for me," spat Norway, turning and vanishing in a swirl of wind.

Tino glared at the spot that Norway disappeared from before chuckling slightly as he swished the liquid contents of the glass bottle around.

The ultimate weapon to defeat Norway was in his hands now.

Maniacal laughter filled the classroom; Tino looked around confusedly and saw that Mr. Rome had popped back out of his office to laugh randomly.

"Why are you laughing?" asked Tino.

"Oh, no reason," shrugged Mr. Rome, retreating back into his office to cry about his age.

"Um... Okay."

* * *

Tino had just had dinner before he stepped back into his room. Berwald was gone from the room, probably taking a shower. Tino curiously glanced at the laptop; Berwald's grades were currently being displayed.

And then he remembered something; Berwald had said that he had a 95% in Molecular Biology 456. But if he had failed an exam and then gotten a C on their most recent test, how could his grade be that high? Gaining a vague feeling of suspicion, Tino peered closer at the screen, his eyes flicking down the list of classes that Berwald was taking until he found Molecular Biology 456. He glanced over at the grade; it was indeed a 95%.

The Finn was just about to click on the class to see the in-depth grades (the grades for each exam) when Berwald stepped back into the room. Tino quickly backed away from the laptop.

Berwald's expression was nearly blazing. "What... were ya doin'?"

"Oh, um, Berwald!" said Tino, stuttering nervously. "I was just, erm... I mean... looking at your grades. But I didn't see anything beyond the percent grade!"

Berwald relaxed slightly. "Oh... Okay."

Tino didn't voice his suspicions, but he felt as though Berwald was lying about his grades. But would a person as nice as Berwald lie to him?

He decided that he would ask Mr. Rome the next class.

* * *

"_You_ need to stop getting injured," hissed Norway as he healed the large bruise on Denmark's head. "I'm not going to heal you any more if you continue to be this _stupid_!"

"How was I supposed to know that they would drop an anchor on me from the sky?" complained Denmark, sitting up slightly on his couch.

"No excuses!" said Norway, slapping Denmark's forehead.

"Nor-nor, you're such a bully," said Denmark, smirking as he uttered the dreaded nickname.

Norway strode around to face him directly. His normally blank eyes were filled with the rushing anger of a typhoon. "Denmark. I will _kill_ you. Consider this alliance ended. I'll fight by myself. You can too."

"Wait, what?" yelped Denmark as Norway walked to the door of Denmark's room. "Wait, Nor, come back!"

"Good-bye."

But suddenly, with some hidden strength reserved for solely this purpose, Denmark leaped at Norway and tackled him, pulling him back into the room and collapsing onto the couch with him.

"Hey — get _off, _Denmark!" yelled Norway, struggling against Denmark's strong arms.

The Dane grinned. "Nah. Not until you re-ally with me."

"Okay, fine! Now get off!"

"Of or on?"

Norway paused in his struggles. "What?"

Denmark grinned slyly. "Get off _of_ or _on_ you?"

The words took a moment to register in Norway's brain.

"You are disgusting."


	10. Chapter 10

**Tutor**

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 10

* * *

"Mr. Rome..."

Tino approached his professor after the unusually productive class. The professor looked up at him.

"Yes?"

"I have a question about Berwald's grades. If he failed an exam and got a C on the one we just took, how does he still have a 95 percent in the class?"

Mr. Rome froze. Completely natural when a gallon of liquid nitrogen suddenly falls on you from the ceiling. A moment later, he defrosted. "Don't mind that," he said, waving a hand at the ceiling. "That's just an experiment. Anyways, about Berwald's grades... Um... Okay."

Tino was extremely confused at this point, by both Berwald's grades and the liquid nitrogen falling from the ceiling. Mentally noting that he should bring an umbrella to the next class period just in case, Tino pursued his question further. "What do you mean? Can you explain, please? It just doesn't make any sense. Exams are heavily weighted, so his grade should be at maximum a low B if he had an A before he crashed. So?"

"Uh..." Mr. Rome was thinking as fast as he could (which wasn't very fast) and finally blurted out, "I'll look and see."

At the very least, this seemed to satisfy Tino for the time being. "Okay. Thanks; I'll see you next class!"

"Bye!" called Mr. Rome, cheerfully waving his student out of the classroom before collapsing into his chair. Pulling up his e-mail, he typed a quick message to a certain Swedish student.

* * *

_We're in trouble, he suspects._

The e-mail from Mr. Rome repeatedly ran in Berwald's head. "He" could only refer to Tino; after catching the Finn looking at his grades the other day, Berwald was becoming more cautious. Now, it seemed even worse to know that Tino had actually gone to talk to Mr. Rome.

_Okay._

That had been the Swede's reply.

Helpful. Very helpful.

But, unlike his lack of words in his message, Berwald's mind was already running through several different plans to prevent Tino from finding out his scheme. Well, it was mostly Mr. Rome's scheme.

Berwald sighed. And the plan had been going so well! He swiveled in his chair in his and Tino's room (even Tino said that once!) and stared around at the surroundings. He had finally gotten to know Tino very well after seeing him a few times waiting outside Mr. Rome's room; the moment he saw the little Finn studying his notes, he had been infatuated.

A small _ping_ came from his computer; he glanced at it to see another e-mail, from his dorm supervisor. He read it and made a sound of intense displeasure.

Just as he was thinking about _their_ room, this rude message arrived to inform him that his _actual_ room had been repaired and that he needed to move back into his dorm.

It seemed that the three water pipes that broke after the first one weren't enough to keep his dorm at bay.

And so, when Tino returned later that evening, Berwald broke the awful news to him.

"My room's fixed."

Tino blinked and then smiled. "Really? That's great news! But — oh, that means you're moving back..."

Berwald couldn't help but notice the faint trace of disappointment in Tino's voice as he replied with an affirmative, "Hm."

"Um..." Tino hesitated for a moment. "Er, if you want... you can stay here? I mean, I'm not pressuring you or anything," he added quickly, waving his hands. "It's just, I've sort of gotten used to you here and it's nice to have someone else in the room, even if it is a bit cramped. So, um, you can stay here if you want?"

Berwald pretended to contemplate the idea of staying in Tino's room just to keep a cover in front of Tino. He had mentally agreed the moment Tino had suggested the idea, but he didn't want the Finn to think he was desperate or anything. Even though he kind of was.

The Finn had no idea why he offering to let Berwald stay; this was _his_ room, and only meant for one person. But, Tino mused, Berwald was nice enough and it was convenient when he needed to tutor the Swede.

And then he realized that, with a 95% in the molecular biology class, Berwald didn't need tutoring. So why did Mr. Rome assign him to tutor the Swede in the first place?

They both opened their mouths and spoke simultaneously.

"Thanks, Tino, I'll —"

"Hey, Berwald, erm —"

They both stopped.

Tino laughed slightly and said, "You go first."

Bewrald coughed quietly. "I'd... like to stay."

"Oh... uh, that's cool! But, what I was going to say... Um, do you need me to tutor you anymore? You have a perfectly good grade in the class."

The words branched in Berwald's mind to form several different paths he could follow. Thinking quickly, Berwald said, "Ya don't need to anymore."

"Oh, alright. I was just wondering..."

With this, Tino wandered off to his sleeping bag and pulled out some work. Berwald mentally grinned and relaxed. He was now in Tino's room _for no reason at all_. No tutoring, no destroyed room, no nothing.

Not to mention, if Tino wasn't tutoring him, the Finn wouldn't need to know about Berwald's grades.

Berwald smiled slightly and set down to do his own work, chatting with Tino throughout the night as they worked.

* * *

"Hey, Eliza, Eliza, Eliza, Eliza, Eliza —"

"Oh, shut up, Gilbert!" Elizabeta turned and smacked him on the head from her seat on a bench. She was happily eating her lunch outdoors, and then _he_ had to come. "Now what do you want?"

"Humph!" said Gilbert, prissily folding his arms across his chest as he took a seat next to the Hungarian. "You're so mean, I won't tell you! The awesome me doesn't need to waste time on _boring_ people like you."

"What did you just say?" said Elizabeta, glaring at him and twitching towards her nearby frying pan.

Gilbert caught sight of the movement and caved in. "Nothing, nothing! Just that I got some awesome info about that Swede and Finn you told us about a while ago."

"Wait, what? Tell me, now!" Elizabeta said eagerly, disregarding her food.

"What if I don't?" said Gilbert smugly, feeling extremely superior to the Hungarian.

Elizabeta smirked dangerously. "Do you really want to know?"

They stared at each other for a moment, Gilbert's expression paling as Elizabeta's grew more ominous.

"Okay, okay! Just stop doing that creepy look! I've been keeping track of them since you told me to, and I found out that the Swede's room has been repaired!"

Elizabeta thought about this for a moment. "So, Berwald's moved out of Tino's room?"

Gilbert grinned wickedly. "Oh, that's the best part; he _hasn't_!"

"Wait, what?" shrieked Elizabeta, startling several passerby. "He's still rooming with Tino?"

"Yep! Isn't it great?"

"This _is_ great," muttered Elizabeta. "It's time for some fun, I think. Thanks a lot, Gilbert!"

The "Prussian" bashfully lowered his head and batted his eyelashes at Elizabeta. "Oh, it was nothing, nothing at all."

Elizabeta looked slightly repulsed at Gilbert's expression. "Stop that, now. It's disturbing."

"Okay."

* * *

A paper airplane flew into Denmark's dorm room through the open window. Norway's eyes snapped up and he snatched it out of the air. Unfolding it, he saw that it was a note from the Finn.

_I'm tired of this war, so I'm going to kick your butts very soon.  
You're welcome!  
Tino_

Norway snorted and crumpled the paper into a ball that he threw backwards carelessly; it bounced off of Denmark's head.

"Hey, ow!" complained the Dane, rubbing his head. "Nor-nor, what was that for?"

"Nothing," replied Norway, hiding the fact that it had been an accident. "I was bored."

Denmark grinned. "Well, this'll liven you up!"

And with those words, Denmark opened a water bottle and threw it at Norway. The Norwegian's eyes widened as the water splashed onto him and the bottle bounced off his shoulder. Denmark was guffawing, clutching his stomach as he stared at Norway's soaked clothes.

"You didn't even move!" choked Denmark. "You just stood there, you've got the _stupidest_ expression on your face right now! Oh, wait. Oh no."

When Denmark had said "stupidest," Norway's expression changed to one of murderous intent.

"Denmark."

"Erm... yes?"

Norway simply lifted an arm to point at the wall behind the Dane, who turned to look.

"What? What is it, Nor?" said Denmark, turning back just in time to receive a large table to the forehead, courtesy of Norway.

As Denmark collapsed to the floor, unconscious, Norway dusted off his hands and smirked.

"You deserved it."


	11. Chapter 11

**Tutor**

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 11

* * *

It had been several weeks since Tino's note flew into Denmark's room. In fact, it was almost time for their semester exams, the final tests they would take in their classes. Berwald and Tino, along with pretty much every other single student on campus, were studying frantically, cramming last minute facts into their heads and preparing to immediately throw out all of the knowledge they accumulated that semester the moment their exams were over.

The two were extremely studious; they allowed themselves a break lasting an hour every day, not counting eating and showering and things like that. One day, Berwald had to go explain to his dorm supervisor that he would be transferring to another room. The paperwork had been so tiresome that the Swede could only collapse on his bed after doing it all. Tino softly read notes to him that night, so that Berwald wouldn't have to read on his own. Plus, Tino's voice and the dull facts helped Berwald to fall asleep very easily that day.

And so, with so much studying to be done, there was no way for Tino to plot — ahem, plan — how to decapitate — ahem, defeat — Norway and Denmark. Especially Norway, since he was the biggest threat. This saddened the Finn to a point, but he finally decided that classes were more important than war. He had even toyed with the idea of calling an armistice, before smashing the idea into the ground because it was so ridiculous. Classes may have been more important than war, but war was still important too.

For some reason, the days before their semester exams seemed to fly by faster than any of the other days; they seemed to pass so quickly, in fact, that Tino burst into tears from the stress when he felt like he was studying less every day. Berwald had immediately offered him a shoulder to cry on.

And thus, time continued to fly to their exams.

* * *

"Oh no, oh no, oh no! Okay, let's think... 2A, 2B, 3, and 4... not 1... okay, yes... What else, what else? I HATE THIS!"

As Tino screamed his furious heart out outside the molecular biology class that Berwald was currently taking his final exam in, several professors opened their doors and hissed, "Hush!" at him. Tino shot them venomous looks and returned to his (literally) last-minute cram session before the previous class was let out.

"Okay, think happy thoughts before going in," breathed Tino. "Last exam. Last exam! LAST EXAM!"

"HUSH!" roared the professors simultaneously; one of them pulled out what appeared to be a tranquilizer dart. Tino paled and clapped a hand over his mouth as the professors returned to their classes to call time. The exam was over.

It was Tino's turn.

Berwald walked out of the classroom and offered a rare smile to Tino (although his smile was barely noticeable, Tino could now discern his facial expressions). Tino smiled nervously in return and received a pat on the head from the tall Swede.

Mr. Rome bounced cheerily about the classroom when all of the students were settled in.

"Everyone, you have one hour and thirty minutes to complete this examination! Let's see how much you learned! Ready, set, go!"

He smiled indulgently at them when they didn't move. "Yes?"

"You didn't give us the test," came the collective reply.

Mr. Rome blinked owlishly at them. "Really?" Turning, he saw the large stack on his desk. "Oh!" he laughed, scooping up his papers. "That was on purpose. Sort of." Under the pressure of the stares of all of his students, he buckled. "Okay, so I forgot to give you your final! Hey, at least you're getting them now, right?"

Tino sighed and massaged his temples. Norway was still shooting him glares, although he had moved to the row behind Tino.

This was going to be a _long_ exam.

* * *

When Tino finally turned in his paper, he was extremely relieved. The exam had been extremely easy, and he was almost guaranteed an A unless something went horribly wrong. Even so, he wanted to know his exam score, or at least his essay grade, so he forced — ahem, persuaded — Mr. Rome to grade his essay immediately. Tino _was_ one of the more... persuasive students on campus.

"Tino, you got a 99 on your essays," smiled Mr. Rome. "I just took off one point here, because you discuss the alternative method..."

"Oh, yes, I wasn't sure about that..."

And so, deep into their (for once) productive and serious discussion about Tino's one missing point, the entry of a certain Swedish student startled both of them.

"Oh, Berwald!" said Tino, smiling. "How do you think you did? Are you here to get your essay graded too?"

Berwald halted, staring at Tino. He shot the professor a quick glance that clearly asked, "Why is he here?"

Mr. Rome helplessly shrugged and gestured at Tino's essays. Berwald groaned internally.

"Okay, Tino, I'm going to have to ask you to leave now while I deal with Berwald's essays," said Mr. Rome, quickly interfering. "Can't let you know other students grades, that's private."

"Hm? Sure — oh, wait! Berwald's grades — was everything fixed? Is everything okay? I mean, I did tutor him for a while, I'd like to know..." Tino trailed off here.

Mr. Rome winced for some reason. "Oh. Um, no... I mean, yes!"

"So, mind if I stay?" asked Tino.

"YES!" Mr. Rome screamed, anxiously kicking the Finn out of the classroom.

"Ow!" Tino complained, rubbing his back. "That was _totally_ unnecessary!"

The door slammed shut behind him, but Tino quickly shoved a small rock (that had randomly fallen out of his beret) in front of the door before it clanged shut. Leaving a tiny space open, he leaned in to listen to the conversation inside.

"So... did it work?" This was Mr. Rome's voice.

"Some." Berwald had replied.

"You're closer now, right?"

"Yes."

"And have you... done anything?" Mr. Rome's tone was clearly salacious. Tino shuddered slightly.

"..."

"Well?"

"No. Haven't asked him out even."

Tino froze. _Haven't asked _him_ out even._ "B-Berwald likes guys!" he squeaked quietly.

"Well, you'd better get a move on! I still can't believe you liked the little Finn just because you saw him sitting outside the door!" chuckled Mr. Rome fondly. "How adorable."

_LITTLE FINN?_ Tino was thunderstruck. _SITTING OUTSIDE THE DOOR? LIKED THE LITTLE FINN?_

"Hn." Berwald was slightly reproachful at being called "adorable," but he'd deal with it for now.

"So infatuated," sighed Mr. Rome. "Ah, young love. How wonderful."

"Ya didn't have to interfere," said Berwald.

"Ah, but I wanted to," said Mr. Rome; Tino could picture him nodding. "A good matchmaking session is a wonderful break from the bore and chore of teaching. But anyways, things have progressed nicely between you two, hm?"

"Hm."

"Well, you _are_ living with him now. How's that going?"

"Good."

_LIVING WITH HIM NOW. LIVING WITH HIM NOW._ Tino's mind was frying at a rapid pace. _Oh my gosh, does that mean that the person Berwald likes is —_

"I feel like we could have managed to fake your grades more smoothly," said Mr. Rome. "He's a bit suspicious."

"Hm."

_IS IT... IS IT... wait... fake grades? WHAT?_ All thoughts of Berwald's crush suddenly dispelled from Tino's mind, the little Finn threw the door open and stormed up to Berwald and Mr. Rome; both were cringing.

"Uh... Tino... you forgot your stuff!" laughed Mr. Rome weakly. "I expect that's why your back?"

"No." Tino slammed his hands onto the table and glared down the other two. "Now, I know that eavesdropping is bad, but this is an exception. Everything I just heard. EVERYTHING I JUST HEARD! _EVERYTHING I JUST HEARD!_"

Mr. Rome cracked. "EVERYTHING WAS HIS IDEA!" he wailed, pointing accusingly at Berwald, who stared just as accusingly right back. "IT WAS ALL HIM!"

"For one thing, I know it wasn't," seethed Tino, "because you said you interfered. Anyways, DOWN TO BUSINESS."

Berwald paled. "Tino... please, listen, I really do like —"

"I don't care who you like, Berwald!" yelled Tino; Berwald immediately looked crestfallen. Tino's conscience felt guilty about this for a moment, but he continued on regardless. "I'm more concerned with the fact that you both lied to me! Berwald's grades were fine, weren't they? You two must have known that I get to class early, and set up a scene outside the door to draw me in to some little plan! I _knew_ something was up, you had a 95 percent! There was no way you could have failed exams and kept an A. I _knew _it!"

"Tino, listen," said Mr. Rome seriously. "Berwald likes you."

Tino stopped in his ranting and turned a pale pink color, before narrowing his eyes at them. "I figured as much from your conversation."

"So I just wanted to help a little. With this rant, are you rejecting Berwald? Do you refuse to even listen to him?"

"Um... no?"

Mr. Rome and Berwald stared at him incredulously. "What?" they both said.

"I was just angry that you made me waste so much time tutoring a student that didn't need to be tutored!" exclaimed Tino. "No offense, Berwald, it was wonderful getting to know you" — Berwald blinked in surprise — "but I could have used those hours to do something actually productive! Like write an essay! Or study for something _I_ needed to study for!"

"Um," said Mr. Rome, still confused, "is that all that you're angry about?"

"Pretty much."

"Oh, well then, everything's fine!" the professor said cheerfully, prying Tino's hands off of his desk (where they had left impressions due to the force that Tino slammed his hands down with). "As long as you're not mad at Berwald for liking you, because then I would be very sad."

"Oh, please don't get sad," said Tino concernedly.

"Aw, thank you."

"No, I'm worried for myself. When you get sad, you cry enough to cause a flash flood and your temper tantrums are destructive."

"..."

"Oh, shoot, I made him sad!" cursed Tino, quickly shoving Mr. Rome into his own office and barricading the door. A loud wail could be heard coming from the room.

Finally, Berwald spoke up. "Hm."

Tino turned to the Swede and opened his mouth, but then awkwardly averted his eyes. "Oh... um... hi."

"Hi."

"I guess... it must have been awkward to live with me all this time then, huh?" said Tino, laughing weakly.

Berwald shrugged. "More fun than awkward. You're fun. You're nice. You're cute."

"Thanks — wait, what?" Tino's face turned red. "Uh... um..."

Berwald smiled slightly and patted Tino's head. "Cute."

"Okay!" said Tino hurriedly, ducking out from under Berwald's hand. The Swede frowned. "Okay, Berwald," said Tino, breathing out a large breath. "Let's get this straight. While I'm flattered and... well, flattered, I'd like to ask you to never resort to trickery to chase anyone down again. Deal?"

"Hm."

"Okay, good. Um, I'll be leaving now!" Tino quickly grabbed his things and started for the door, only to stop when Berwald uttered his name.

"Tino... are ya okay with me?"

Tino turned slowly and smiled — Berwald melted a little bit inside. "Berwald... I'm fine. For now. Just don't lie to me, okay?"

And with that, Tino left the room.

Berwald stared at the door, feeling strangely elated.

Tino didn't mind.

Tino didn't mind!

It was only when he noticed that the water leaking from Mr. Rome's office was drenching him up to his knees that Berwald decided he should move.


	12. Chapter 12

**Tutor**

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 12

* * *

It was winter.

With the end of the first term of the school year came winter break. Many students went back to their homes, but Tino and Berwald stayed at the university. And Berwald had to deal with a hyperactive Finn.

"OH MY GOSH IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS, BERWALD!" Tino screamed, prancing around their tiny dorm room, happily covered in glitter and tinsel.

"Hm." Berwald watched him cautiously in case the Finn fell down from his precarious perch on his bed, but Tino seemed to have done this before, so... it should all be okay?

"ALMOST _CHRISTMAS_, BERWALD! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?"

"..."

"GIVING PRESENTS!"

At this, Berwald quirked an eyebrow. "Giving?"

"Well, you get some too, but giving is so much more fun!" laughed Tino, calming down slightly and hopping off the bed.

Berwald smiled faintly. "Hm."

"TWO DAYS, BERWALD! _ONLY TWO MORE DAYS!_" And with that, Tino jumped back onto the bed and bounced on it like it was a trampoline.

So much for staying calm.

* * *

"This war has been at a standstill since finals," muttered Norway, sitting on Denmark's head. "What could it mean?"

"Nor," choked Denmark, who was lying on his bed when Norway fell through the ceiling to crush him, "get off, please."

"Stop being perverted."

"NOT THAT WAY!" screamed Denmark. "I'M SERIOUS THIS TIME! OFF, PLEASE!"

Norway sighed and stood up, allowing the Dane to gasp for air. "Tch," muttered Norway. "How troublesome."

"You know," said Denmark after he had regained his breath, "I didn't even think about what I said as being dirty. You're dirtier than I am, Norway! Now _that's_ an accomplishment! Wow!"

Norway's eyes widened before he swiftly took Denmark's pillow and began beating the Dane with it.

"OW! SHEESH? NOR, STOP! OW, OW!"

"Who knew," hissed Norway, smashing the fluffy pillow down on Denmark's head, "that pillows were so effective as weapons?"

_"OW!"_

* * *

_"OH MY GOSH, ONE MORE DAY!"_ yelled Tino, bouncing about giddily. "ONE MORE DAY TILL I ERADICATE — uh, nothing."

Berwald shrugged at the Finn and turned back to his own thoughts. He was far more concerned with what to get Tino for Christmas. Since the awkward, revealing moment in Mr. Rome's classroom, nothing really had changed between the two. Berwald wasn't sure how to approach the Finn; he figured that it would come to him eventually.

And with Christmas just around the corner, Berwald decided that he would use the holiday somehow to marry Tino!

...

Okay, maybe that was a little extreme. A kiss, at the very least.

...

Okay, fine, on the cheek.

...

And a hug.

* * *

When the clock struck midnight... Tino's eyes snapped open.

"IT'S CHRISTMAS!" he screamed in delight, shaking Berwald awake and prancing out into the hallway to inform the entire dorm. _"IT'S CHRISTMAS!"_

Wisely, the other students (after experiencing a wake-up call that was _far_ too early the first year Tino arrived at the university) had plugged their ears, sleeping blissfully through Tino's outbursts of holiday joy, which, however joyful, were simply _not_ meant to be spread at midnight.

Unfortunately, Berwald never experienced this phenomenon before, so he was stumbling awake at midnight for no apparent reason whatsoever. Even so, he smiled fondly at Tino's little quirks. Who knew that the Finn was so obsessed with Christmas?

And while Berwald slowly settled himself back into bed, Tino, Eduard, and Elizabeta had prepared themselves for a sneak maneuver at night.

"This'll be Denmark and Norway's present this year!" said Tino, smiling happily. "I hope they like it!"

Eduard and Elizabeta laughed.

* * *

However prepared Norway was, even he didn't expect three figures cloaked in black to drop in through Denmark's window in the middle of the night. He slept soundly on Denmark's couch while the Dane was unconscious on his bed.

Tino sneaked to Norway and quickly poured the potion he had been saving over him. Norway woke up, startled to find himself drenched in shining liquid.

"What the —"

Denmark's scream blasted throughout the room as Elizabeta and Eduard dealt with him. Norway's sharp eyes quickly focused on a smirking Tino, and the Norwegian glared at him as he conjured his magical powers.

But they wouldn't come.

He took a sharp intake of breath. "You —"

"That's right!" sang Tino, merrily knocking the Norwegian out with a large sack of presents. "I blocked your powers!"

"I'll... get you," muttered Norway as he slumped back onto the couch. Eduard and Elizabeta, in the meantime, carted out Denmark's still body.

"Did you kill him?" asked Tino incredulously.

"Of course not," replied Eduard. "He's just unconscious."

They dumped the Dane onto the couch as well, squashing Norway with the taller man. The Finno-Ugrics smirked at each other before climbing back out the window stealthily, because they were too cool to use the door.

Obviously.

"Alright, thanks for your help, guys," whispered Tino. "I'll see you all later during the day! I'm off to deliver some presents now."

"Alright, bye Tino!" giggled Elizabeta. "What did you get for me this year?"

"Shh, it's a secret," smiled Tino.

Eduard laughed. "Okay, have fun!"

Eduard and Elizabeta left, and Tino quickly took his sack of presents and sprinted into the night to casually invade more dorm rooms; but for a good cause this time!

* * *

"Okay," murmured Tino, finally getting back to his own room after an adventurous night delivering presents. "Finally, done with all the present giving. Oh, except for Berwald..."

Remembering for the first time in days that Berwald sort of had a huge crush on him, Tino smiled slightly and quickly came up with one more present to add, despite the fact that he already had a present for the Swede.

Entering his room, he saw that Berwald was still soundly asleep. Leaving a present wrapped in blue and tied with yellow ribbon on Berwald's laptop, Tino snuggled into his sleeping bag and fell asleep as well.

* * *

When people finally began to wake up at normal times, they were stunned to find one or two presents in their room left by an anonymous someone. Nobody knew who had delivered these presents, and they all began to wonder if Santa Claus was really real.

Well, nobody knew except for Eduard, Elizabeta, and the perpetrator himself, Tino. The Finn had made it his personal project to get every single student left on campus something they really wanted for Christmas. He had extensively studied his fellow students since the start of school, and it had paid off well.

The Vargas brothers woke up to two steaming vats of pasta. Yes, vats. How Tino managed to keep them hot was simply magical.

Ludwig, Gilbert's brother, was frantically reading through the questionable novels that had arrived in a gift box; he couldn't wait to get to the comics — not that he was a pervert or anything. He was just... yeah.

Meanwhile, in Japan, Elizabeta's friend received a gift of complete DVD sets of his favorite anime series. Tino had wanted to thank him for taking Denmark's battleaxe.

Alfred Jones, the American git (according to Arthur), received a gift of food, like the Vargas brothers. As he scarfed down hamburgers across from his roommate, the moody British man himself, he thanked Santa Claus profusely for a wonderful breakfast.

Arthur, in the meantime, was sniffing curiously at the packets of tea he had received; the tea leaves were from China and smelled exquisitely refined. Perfect for a British gentleman like himself.

Francis Bonnefoy received nothing, unfortunately, because Tino was too scared to go into his room.

Same goes for Mr. Ivan Braginsky, the Russian giant.

The last student Tino delivered a present to was a Chinese student named Yao Wang; he had received ten, plushy stuffed animals. He was currently jumping for joy and screaming in a highly embarrassing fashion.

In the meantime, Eduard had immediately started to fiddle with the latest technological items that Tino had gotten him, while Elizabeta stormed through the inappropriate-for-little-kids books that Tino knew she adored so much. She was reading them faster than Ludwig was in his; quite an accomplishment, actually.

And finally, Berwald.

The Swede woke up and found Tino sleeping happily after exploding during the night. Berwald smiled and got up, slipping on his glasses and noticing the present on his laptop. Curiously, he opened it and pulled out several woodworking tools, much to his delight.

So, when Tino finally woke up, Berwald immediately hugged him and murmured, "Thank you," into the Finn's ears. The sensation of Berwald's hot breath ghosted across Tino's cheek and he jolted, blushing.

"It's n-no problem!" blurted the Finn, trying to pass off his blush as nothing. "Hey, I actually have one more present... Just let me get dressed."

Berwald nodded and stood back, allowing Tino to move. Finally, the Finn returned to his side and smiled.

"Hey Berwald, close your eyes."

The Swede did as he was told, heart beating faster as he wondered what Tino was about to do.

The soft feeling of Tino's lips against his cheek made him open his eyes and stare at the Finn, who simply waved cheekily and left the room while saying, "Merry Christmas!"

Berwald raised a hand instinctively to his cheek, holding the spot where Tino had kissed him.

Oh, this was a great day.


	13. Chapter 13

**Tutor**

A/N: To **Purestrongpoem**, the reason Denmark and Norway don't have human names is because they don't have them officially, and I don't like to give them a name that isn't actually theirs. Sorry if this bothers you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 13

* * *

The afternoon of Christmas day was filled with snow. Tino ran outside to enjoy the fluff, leaving Berwald, who didn't feel like playing in the snow, in the dorm.

So, when Tino returned to his room, he was extremely surprised when he was confronted with a blushing Berwald holding a bouquet of flowers.

"For you," muttered Berwald, looking at the bed in embarrassment and avoiding Tino's eyes as much as possible.

Tino wordlessly accepted the bouquet. He really didn't know what he was supposed to do now. It's really awkward to know that one of your friends likes you. Really, _really_ awkward.

"Erm... Thanks... Berwald."

"Hm."

And then, when Tino glanced at his sleeping bag, he was startled to see a small gift wrapped in white and blue on the fabric. Moving to it, he picked it up and carefully removed the wrapping paper, opening a small box to find a necklace bearing the Nordic cross carved from aquamarine.

"Oh, thank you, Berwald!" said Tino, jumping up and immediately stringing the gift around his neck. "It's so pretty!"

"Hm."

"When did you get this?"

"Last week."

"Oh, okay. Oh, I was wondering if you'd like to go out for dinner somewhere today? Or maybe on New Year's?"

Berwald stared at the Finn. "Dinner?"

"Yeah! I mean, it'd be fun!"

"Yes." Berwald couldn't believe his luck. _Tino_ asked him out on a date? A date? With _Tino_? _WITH TINO?_

Tino smiled. "Great, I'll just call up Elizabeta and Eduard and ask them if they want to come too..."

The world came crashing down around Berwald's happy mind. His happy thoughts imploded, his soul was sliced in half, and he lost all of his will to live. Only the sight of Tino smiling prevented him from collapsing on his bed to never get up.

Of course the Finn didn't want to go on a date. It was just a friendly outing with everyone. _Everyone_.

Berwald actually growled quietly as Tino called his friends, but then calmed himself and motioned that he was leaving to Tino. The Finn waved good-bye, but noticed that Berwald seemed depressed for some reason. Curiously glancing after the Swede for a few moments longer, Tino shrugged and turned back to the phone.

* * *

"We've been defeated," said Norway morosely. "We're done. We've lost."

"No, we have not!" declared Denmark, standing proudly. "We shall come back and win!"

"You lose physically, I don't have magic. We've lost. We might as well surrender officially."

Sighing, Norway slid a piece of paper to himself and began to write. Denmark drooped and peered over Norway's shoulder, making comments every now and then and wilting with every letter that the Norwegian put down in ink.

This was a sad, sad day.

* * *

Berwald went on a walk around campus when he left. Feeling sufficiently chilled from the cold and more relaxed afterwards, he returned to the dorm to find Tino sitting in the chair, his back to the door.

"I've been waiting for you, Berwald," the Finn uttered, sounding strangely detached. "Please, come in."

Berwald blinked and had no idea what was going on. "Tino?"

Tino still did not turn around to face the Swede. Instead, he stood up, walked forward a few paces, and gestured behind his back for the Swede to sit down in the abandoned chair.

"It has come to my attention that you possess a questionable image concerning the two of us, courtesy of one Elizabeta Héderváry," Tino said, still sounding utterly distant. At this, Berwald drew in a sharp breath, eyes widening. "I discovered it underneath your pillow when I was cleaning up the room a bit. Would you care to explain how this... _filth_ came to be in your hands?"

Gulping, Berwald slowly whispered out an explanation of how he hid the day that he had found it. Tino finally turned around, an utterly blank expression on his face.

"And would you care to explain why you hid it? And why you never told me?"

"Ya wouldn't like it," muttered Berwald, trying to mask his fear as Tino loomed over him. He suddenly realized that the Finn had strategically placed him in the seat to be at a lower altitude; this allowed Tino to tower over him, whereas Berwald was usually the taller one. Cursing the Finn's brilliant mind, Berwald almost stood up before Tino laid a hand on his shoulder. The touch tingled, but not in the good way that Berwald was accustomed to with Tino. Oh no, this was a very, _very_ bad tingle.

"I think you would like to know that I have confiscated the artifact and burned it at the stake."

"What?"

Berwald's eyes widened imperceptibly, but Tino noticed. Swallowing a hard lump, Berwald choked out, "Where did ya burn it?"

"Outside while you were out," said Tino, dispassionately waving outside. "Why?"

"Bury it," muttered Berwald, gathering tools and walking out the door. "Deserves a grave."

Tino gaped at the Swede as he left the room to find the ashes of Elizabeta's drawing. In fact, a few minutes had already passed when he suddenly smacked his head. "I've lost my height advantage! Shoot!"

And thus, he charged after the Swede.

* * *

Norway and Denmark sulked towards Tino's dorm, holding their order of surrender. They conversed quietly, Denmark consoling the despondent Norwegian, as they made their way up the stairs. Neither noticed Berwald outside carving a hole in the ground.

So, when Tino bowled through them, they were completely surprised and fell down the stairs with the Finn.

"Oh. My. GOSH!" screamed Tino, shoving the two out of the way. "WHY NOW OF ALL TIMES MUST YOU COME TO BOTHER ME? I HAVE TO GO ATTACK BERWALD!"

"Wait," called Norway, intoning a deep chill into Tino even without his magic. "We are here to surrender. We've already signed the document. You need to sign it, and the war will be over. I hope we can become friends afterwards."

Tino took a moment to register the news. "Wait, you surrendered?"

"Yeah," said Denmark sheepishly. "We're bored of this and we gave up."

Torn between ending the war in his favor and grappling with Berwald, Tino let out a frustrated growl and quickly took the document from Norway, scanning it quickly.

"Pen, now," Tino hissed, holding his hand out. Norway blinked dully and Denmark raised an eyebrow.

"We didn't think you wouldn't have one when it came to signing," explained the Dane. "In your room?"

Howling, and frightening most of the people within earshot, Tino burst back up the stairs_,_ thinking as he went, _I AM LOSING SO MUCH PRECIOUS TIME. I HATE EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW. POO._

Snatching one of his fountain pens from the desk, he yanked the cap off and scribbled hurriedly, only to notice that it was out of ink. Pounding the table in frustration, Tino threw the pen at the wall so fiercely that it flew straight through the wall, leaving a permanent hole. Luckily, it wasn't the wall that separated him from another room.

Finally, locating a working pen, Tino signed the paper and tore back down the stairs, thrusting the document and Norway and Denmark before hurtling outside to see Berwald laying flowers at the base of a tombstone.

"ALREADY?" screamed Tino, charging over. "HOW?"

"Swedish powers," Berwald said, patting Tino's head gently. "S'okay."

"I _hate_ you," snapped Tino, turning away and stalking off back to the dorm. "From now on, you are not my friend! I'll go make friends with Denmark and Norway instead! Humph!"

Berwald's mouth was hanging open slightly at Tino's childish, nonsensical rage. It was just a drawing! The Swede closed his jaw and glared at where Tino had stood moments ago. If the Finn was going to be like that, then Berwald would follow his example.

But when Tino walked out of the dorm with Norway and Denmark, laughing with the two of them (well, mostly Denmark), Berwald felt an insane surge of jealousy and realized that he would never be able to give up Tino.

"Tch," muttered Berwald softly, before he patted the tombstone one last time and headed back to the room. He'd figure out what to do from now on there.

"Wow," whispered Elizabeta from her vantage point in a bush. "So much drama."

"Eliza..." Eduard sighed and poked her when she failed to respond.

She shook slightly at the poke. "Oh, what?"

"You aren't thinking about interfering, are you?"

A wicked grin spread across her face. "Of course I am."

"Of course you are," sighed Eduard, opening his laptop while Elizabeta plotted.

This proved for a troublesome dinner later.


	14. Chapter 14

**Tutor**

A/N: To **Purestrongpoem**, I think those are fan names? And to EVERYONE who reads this, I'm so sorry for the long wait!

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 14

* * *

The slightly busy restaurant that Tino chose as their dinner place was very cozy. Elizabeta and Eduard were already there, along with Norway and Denmark. After explaining the situation, Eduard immediately struck up "conversation" with Norway (because Norway's just that talkative), and Elizabeta threw an arm around Denmark like they were best friends.

For some reason, Iceland was squeezed in next to Norway too. Norway was leaning his head against his younger brother's whilst simultaneously hugging him from the side.

Denmark got up, muttering something about a drink, and then Tino arrived with a hesitant Berwald following him.

Elizabeta shot Eduard a look, and the Estonian quickly pressed a key on his ever-present laptop. The ceiling of the restaurant opened up over the Finn and the Swede, and a piece of mistletoe descended.

"Hey guys!" Tino said, cheerfully making his way to their table, oblivious to the fact that the piece of mistletoe above him was following him. Berwald glanced up as he saw a flicker of movement and paled at the sight before backing away quickly and glaring at Eduard, who responded with a cheeky grin.

"Hi Tino!" said Elizabeta, raising a hand. "What's up?"

"Nothing much."

"Are you sure?" grinned Elizabeta, wickedly pointing at the ceiling. Tino confusedly looked up; it took a few moments for the plant above his head to register in his mind.

"Very funny," the Finn said sarcastically. "It's not like anyone's next to me. I don't need to kiss anyone."

"Uh, what about —" Elizabeta cut off her sentence when she saw that Berwald had sneaked around the mistletoe and sat down next to Eduard. She shot him a glare for ruining her hard work, and he responded with his usual expression, which just coincidentally also happened to be a glare.

"What about what?" prompted Tino, raising an eyebrow. He was about to sit down, but then Denmark came bounding back with a glass of soda.

"Hey guys!" he said, punching Tino's arm lightly and nodding at Berwald. "What's up?"

The table froze. Tino turned red and then white when he realized that he was now standing _accompanied_ beneath the mistletoe. He furiously tried to send evil pulses at the Hungarian woman who simply snorted at his failed attempts to frighten her.

Norway dully broke the silence. "You probably don't want to know."

"Huh?"

"Let's just — sit down, shall we?" said Tino jerkily, attempting to retain a calm demeanor. However, Elizabeta jumped up with her smirk back in place. Berwald was panicking and panicking and basically freaking out inside when he saw the Dane and Tino under the mistletoe.

"Oh, I don't think so, Tino," she said, eyes filled with mirth as Tino nearly exploded. "Denmark, look above your head."

The Dane looked. "It's a plant. What's it doing up there?"

There was a momentary silence. And then, the loud sound of several palms slapping several faces resounded at their table.

"It's mistletoe," said an exasperated Iceland. "You're supposed to kiss whoever's under it with you."

"Oh. So... I'm supposed to kiss Tino?" said Denmark, a bit confused at the strange tradition. He shrugged anyways. "Sure."

"Wait, what?" was all Tino managed to say before the Dane lightly pressed his lips to the Finn's. Tino turned a bright red color at this, while Denmark only grinned as he pulled away.

"That was fun," said Denmark as he tumbled back down next to Elizabeta.

In the meantime, a varying number of reactions came from the people at the table.

Norway seemed impervious to it and simply turned away from the scene to his heavily blushing brother. Eduard had pushed another key on his laptop and the mistletoe retracted, and he remained sitting calculating all the possible ways to make his and Elizabeta's plan continue to run smoothly after this little problem. Elizabeta was unconscious, red-faced, and, for some reason, bleeding heavily from her nose; plus, for some reason, she was clutching a camera to her chest as though it was a precious artifact. Berwald's fists were clenched tightly under the table as he tried to kill Denmark just by thinking about the Dane's death.

Tino finally sat down next to Eduard, thoroughly ignoring Berwald.

"Shall we order?" suggested Norway. A few subdued nods answered him.

* * *

Their dishes had arrived and they were all eating when Elizabeta gave the signal (a heavy kick to the right leg) to Eduard to start phase two of their plan. He let out a yelp, earning strange looks from most of the table, before everyone returned to their conversations.

"Er... Um..." Eduard attempted to raise his voice, but he was _nervous,_ for goodness' sake! If Tino _ever_ found out about his and Elizabeta's plotting, they would both be so dead that they wouldn't even be classified as dead any more. A second hefty kick from Elizabeta, though, had him talking. "I've got to go, everyone!" he squeaked. "Er, yeah, I've got stuff... to do... yeah... um... Bye!"

The Estonian awkwardly stood up to leave; Tino moved as well to allow him to leave.

"Um, okay then, Eduard," said Tino, slightly bemused. "Have a nice day?"

"Thanks, really!" said Eduard, panicking slightly as he took his plate. "Merry Christmas, everyone!" He scurried away, opening his laptop as he went. An video button appeared on the screen and he clicked it, causing one of the security cameras in the restaurant to turn towards the table he had just left. Guiltily leaving the restaurant, he began to watch the screen.

Tino was now left on his side of the table with a space in between him and Berwald. Tino seemed to be completely unaware that Berwald was even there, chatting animatedly with Denmark and Elizabeta, who had woken up some time ago. Norway and Iceland were bickering again, leaving Berwald to himself.

The Swede mentally sighed. He knew that Tino was still angry at him, but he was feeling rather bored at the table when no one interacted with him.

Denmark, Norway, and Iceland got up to return their plates, as they had finished their meals. Tino followed them after a few moments, leaving Berwald and Elizabeta at the table. The Swede felt vaguely unsettled for some reason as her eyes turned to him.

"Berwald. Make your move on Tino. Now."

Back at his dorm room, Eduard, who also had audio, slapped his forehead at Elizabeta's straightforward advice. "Really?" he said. "Really?"

Berwald felt heat rise to his cheeks at her words and he didn't respond.

Elizabeta let out a heavy sigh. "Come on, everyone knows you like him. I mean, you were so mad when Denmark kissed him, and just because you pissed him off a little doesn't mean he hates you. He's just a little stubborn, that's all. And I'm pretty sure he likes you too."

At this, Berwald shot her a glance. "Hm?"

Elizabeta laughed. "Oh, now you're interested? Well, whatever. I'm done with my advice. Because I enjoy drama and I want to make your lives as miserable as possible."

Berwald turned away from her again, slightly put out by her words.

"Then again, the sooner you get together, the sooner I can enjoy watching you two," the Hungarian woman said thoughtfully. Berwald's eyebrows shot up and he glared at her.

"How so?" mumbled Berwald.

"You know, sexy times and stuff," Elizabeta said casually, waving a hand. Berwald abruptly stood up with his plate and left. The Hungarian watched him leave and shrugged. _Was it something I said?_

...

Of course not.

* * *

It seemed that Berwald at least tried to do something when everyone had returned to the table. Berwald had slowly seated himself next to Tino. The Finn paid no attention whatsoever to this and continued to talk with Denmark.

Elizabeta continued to shoot the Swede covert looks, attempting to look inconspicuous, which, of course, only made her even more obvious. Norway turned to her and bluntly asked her if she was having a seizure when one of her looks at Berwald involved rapid twitching in her seat. She had kindly answered in the negative.

Finally, when it was time to leave, Elizabeta initiated the rest of their plan in several bursts of action.

She stuck her foot out and tripped Berwald, intending for him to fall on Tino to result in awkward goodness. Unfortunately, her aim was extremely poor, and the poor Swede simply tumbled to the ground at Tino's feet. The Finn didn't even blink and simply stepped around the strange object on the floor.

Quickly, Elizabeta called a waiter, who brought the cake that she had previously prepared to Tino. It was decorated like the Swedish flag and shaped like a heart. Tino glanced at it, took it with a smile, and proceeded to smash it into Elizabeta's face._  
_

After she had eaten the cake off of her face (how was that even possible?), Elizabeta tsked at her failed plan and pulled Berwald up from his dejected position on the floor, before proceeding to douse him in water at the exit of the restaurant with a bucket that she had hung up on the ceiling earlier. Obviously, Berwald would either take his shirt off and show off his awesome body and Tino would blush and hurriedly offer his coat to the soaked Swede.

Really, all that happened was that Berwald was now wet and miserable as they walked outside in the chilly Christmas evening.

_Damn, Tino's almost meaner than me!_ panicked the Hungarian as she watched him coldly ignore all of Berwald's plights. Finally, Elizabeta desperately resorted to her last-ditch effort.

"Hey, snowball fight, guys!" she cheered once they reached a decent patch of snow-covered campus. Tino cheered and everyone immediately consented.

"Okay, teams. How about Tino and B—" Elizabeta was suddenly blasted in the face with a snowball, with Tino dragging away Denmark to form a team, since Norway and Iceland had already partnered up. The Hungarian blew the snow off her face and sighed turning to Berwald.

"Why am I stuck with you again?" she asked. He shrugged and simply began to construct a wall of snow.

It was clear after about ten minutes that no one really stood a chance against Tino. They could all have ganged up on him and he still would have won. Norway was mildly impressed as his brother was knocked unconscious by one hefty snowball that resembled a bowling ball. Denmark was cheering on Tino as the little Finn darted to and fro, ducking snowballs aimed at him and retaliating tenfold.

Berwald heard a deep rumbling from behind him, and he quickly turned around. A veritable avalanche of snow was falling towards them, as Tino had somehow managed to create the wave of snow without anyone noticing. Elizabeta shrieked and Berwald quickly covered her as the snow descended upon the duo.

Denmark grinned and laughed along with Tino as two more people vanished from view under the snow. Tino turned to the only remaining opponent, Norway, and blinked. The Norwegian had constructed a bed of snow for himself and was sleeping soundly with white flag constructed out of snow attached to one of the bedposts.

"I win!" cheered Tino, moving to help dig out Elizabeta.

When the snow was cleared from on top of the Swede and Hungarian, though, Tino felt slightly annoyed. Berwald was practically on top of Elizabeta and had taken the brunt of the force of the mini-avalanche.

"Hey Tino!" called Elizabeta once Berwald had rolled off of her. "That avalanche really hurt, you know."

"Tch, you deserved it," Tino huffed, before he turned away and marched away towards his dorm.

Elizabeta blinked slightly and then realized with a grin that Tino was _jealous_. "Berwald, did you see that?" she squealed, shaking the Swede. "_He_ wanted to be under you instead of me!"

Denmark had chosen this moment to walk over and simply laughed. "Wow, Eliza, you're more perverted than me!" he said happily as he went and picked up a sleeping Norway and an unconscious Iceland. "I'll see you guys sometime later then, I guess."

"Bye!" said Elizabeta, getting up. Berwald slowly stood as well, dusting the snow off of his pants and shivering slightly, as his wet shirt had basically frozen.

"Well, you should probably get back and take a hot shower or something," said Elizabeta, slightly worried. "Sorry for drenching you earlier."

Berwald nodded and turned to follow the path that Tino took.

"You should invite Tino into the shower too!" said the Hungarian woman suddenly.

And with that comment, Berwald felt himself nearly burn up as heat rushed to his face.

Elizabeta merely grinned wickedly.


End file.
